Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Wishing to Be Near God
A song of David when he was in the desert of Judah.
63 God, you are my God.
I want to follow you.
My whole being
thirsts for you,
like a man in a dry, empty land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the Temple.
I have seen your strength and glory.
3 Your love is better than life.
I will praise you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name.
5 I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods.
My lips will sing. My mouth will praise you.
6 I remember you while I’m lying in bed.
I think about you through the night.
7 You are my help.
Because of your protection, I sing.
8 I stay close to you.
You support me with your right hand.
The Spies Explore Canaan
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send men to explore the land of Canaan. I will give that land to the Israelites. Send one leader from each tribe.”
17 Moses sent them to explore Canaan. He said, “Go through southern Canaan and then into the mountains. 18 See what the land looks like. Are the people who live there strong or weak? Are there a few or many? 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What about the towns they live in—do they have walls, or are they open like camps? 20 What about the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees there? Try to bring back some of the fruit from that land.” (It was the season for the first grapes.)
21 So they went up and explored the land. They went from the Desert of Zin all the way to Rehob by Lebo Hamath. 22 They went through the southern area to Hebron. That is where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai lived. They were the descendants of Anak. (The city of Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 In the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch of a grapevine. It had one bunch of grapes on it. They carried that branch on a pole between two of them. They also got some pomegranates and figs. 24 They call that place the Valley of Eshcol.[a] That is because the Israelites cut off the bunch of grapes there. 25 After 40 days of exploring the land, the men returned to the camp.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites at Kadesh. This was in the Desert of Paran. The men reported to them and showed everybody the fruit from the land. 27 They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is a land where much food grows! Here is some of its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are strong. Their cities are walled and large. We even saw some Anakites there. 29 The Amalekites live in the southern area. The Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the mountains. The Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan River.”
30 Then Caleb told the people near Moses to be quiet. Caleb said, “We should go up and take the land for ourselves. We can do it.”
31 But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people. They are stronger than we are.” 32 And those men gave the Israelites a bad report about the land they explored. They said, “The land would eat us up. All the people we saw are very tall. 33 We saw the Nephilim people there. (The Anakites come from the Nephilim people.) We felt like grasshoppers. And we looked like grasshoppers to them.”
The People Complain Again
14 That night all the people in the camp began crying loudly. 2 All the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. All the people said to them, “We should have died in Egypt. Or we should have died in the desert. 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land? We will be killed with swords. Our wives and children will be taken away. We would be better off going back to Egypt.” 4 They said to each other, “Let’s get a leader and go back to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron bowed facedown in front of all the Israelites gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among those who had explored the land. They tore their clothes. 7 They said to all of the Israelites, “The land we went to explore is very good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. He will give us that land where much food grows. 9 Don’t turn against the Lord! Don’t be afraid of the people in that land! We will chew them up. They have no protection, but we have the Lord. So don’t be afraid of them.”
Jesus Talks About His Death
22 Later, the followers met together in Galilee. Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man will be given into the control of some men. 23 They will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised from death.” And the followers were filled with sadness.
Jesus Talks About Paying Taxes
24 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. There some men came to Peter. They were the men who collected the Temple tax. They asked, “Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?”
25 Peter answered, “Yes, Jesus pays the tax.”
Peter went into the house where Jesus was. Before Peter could speak, Jesus said to him, “The kings on the earth collect different kinds of taxes. But who are the people who pay the taxes? Are they the king’s children? Or do others pay the taxes? What do you think?”
26 Peter answered, “Other people pay the taxes.”
Jesus said to Peter, “Then the children of the king don’t have to pay taxes. 27 But we don’t want to make these tax collectors angry. So go to the lake and fish. After you catch the first fish, open its mouth. Inside its mouth you will find a coin. Take that coin and give it to the tax collectors. That will pay the tax for you and me.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.