Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

63 A Psalm of David, in his being in the wilderness of Judah. O God, Thou [art] my God, earnestly do I seek Thee, Thirsted for Thee hath my soul, Longed for Thee hath my flesh, In a land dry and weary, without waters.

² So in the sanctuary I have seen Thee, To behold Thy strength and Thine honour.

³ Because better [is] Thy kindness than life, My lips do praise Thee.

⁴ So I bless Thee in my life, in Thy name I lift up my hands.

⁵ As [with] milk and fatness is my soul satisfied, And [with] singing lips doth my mouth praise.

⁶ If I have remembered Thee on my couch, In the watches -- I meditate on Thee.

⁷ For Thou hast been a help to me, And in the shadow of Thy wings I sing.

⁸ Cleaved hath my soul after Thee, On me hath Thy right hand taken hold.

13 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

² `Send for thee men, and they spy the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel; one man, one man for the tribe of his fathers ye do send, every one a prince among them.'

¹⁷ And Moses sendeth them to spy the land of Canaan, and saith unto them, `Go ye up this [way] into the south, and ye have gone up the mountain,

¹⁸ and have seen the land what it [is], and the people which is dwelling on it, whether it [is] strong or feeble; whether it [is] few or many;

¹⁹ and what the land [is] in which it is dwelling, whether it [is] good or bad; and what [are] the cities in which it is dwelling, whether in camps or in fortresses;

²⁰ And what the land [is], whether it [is] fat or lean; whether there is wood in it or not; and ye have strengthened yourselves, and have taken of the fruit of the land;' and the days [are] days of the first-fruits of grapes.

²¹ And they go up and spy the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob at the going in to Hamath;

²² and they go up by the south, and come in unto Hebron, and there [are] Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, children of Anak (and Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt),

²³ and they come in unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down thence a branch and one cluster of grapes, and they bear it on a staff by two, also [some] of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

²⁴ That place hath [one] called Brook of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut from thence.

²⁵ And they turn back from spying the land at the end of forty days.

²⁶ And they go and come in unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto all the company of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and they bring them and all the company back word, and shew them the fruit of the land.

²⁷ And they recount to him, and say, `We came in unto the land whither thou hast sent us, and also it [is] flowing with milk and honey -- and this [is] its fruit;

²⁸ only, surely the people which is dwelling in the land [is] strong; and the cities are fenced, very great; and also children of Anak we have seen there.

²⁹ Amalek is dwelling in the land of the south, and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite is dwelling in the hill country, and the Canaanite is dwelling by the sea, and by the side of the Jordan.'

³⁰ And Caleb stilleth the people concerning Moses, and saith, `Let us certainly go up -- and we have possessed it; for we are thoroughly able for it.'

³¹ And the men who have gone up with him said, `We are not able to go up against the people, for it [is] stronger than we;'

³² and they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied unto the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we passed over to spy it, is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst [are] men of stature;

³³ and there we saw the Nephilim, sons of Anak, of the Nephilim; and we are in our own eyes as grasshoppers; and so we were in their eyes.'

14 And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;

² and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, `O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!

³ and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword? our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?'

⁴ And they say one unto another, `Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.'

⁵ And Moses falleth -- Aaron also -- on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel.

⁶ And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments,

⁷ and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we have passed over to spy it, [is] a very very good land;

⁸ if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey;

⁹ only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they [are]; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah [is] with us; fear them not.'

²² And while they are living in Galilee, Jesus said to them, `The Son of Man is about to be delivered up to the hands of men,

²³ and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise,' and they were exceeding sorry.

²⁴ And they having come to Capernaum, those receiving the didrachms came near to Peter, and said, `Your teacher -- doth he not pay the didrachms?' He saith, `Yes.'

²⁵ And when he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, `What thinkest thou, Simon? the kings of the earth -- from whom do they receive custom or poll-tax? from their sons or from the strangers?'

²⁶ Peter saith to him, `From the strangers.' Jesus said to him, `Then are the sons free;

²⁷ but, that we may not cause them to stumble, having gone to the sea, cast a hook, and the fish that hath come up first take thou up, and having opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater, that having taken, give to them for me and thee.'