Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Is Eternal, and We Are Not
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our home
since the beginning.
2 Before the mountains were born
and before you created the earth and the world,
you are God.
You have always been, and you will always be.
3 You turn people back into dust.
You say, “Go back into dust, human beings.”
4 To you, a thousand years
is like the passing of a day,
or like a few hours in the night.
5 While people sleep, you take their lives.
They are like grass that grows up in the morning.
6 In the morning they are fresh and new,
but by evening they dry up and die.
13 Lord, how long before you return
and show kindness to your servants?
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Then we will sing and rejoice all our lives.
15 We have seen years of trouble.
Now give us as much joy as you gave us sorrow.
16 Show your servants the wonderful things you do;
show your greatness to their children.
17 Lord our God, treat us well.
Give us success in what we do;
yes, give us success in what we do.
The Lord Calls Moses and Joshua
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will die. Get Joshua and come to the Meeting Tent so that I may command him.” So Moses and Joshua went to the Meeting Tent.
15 The Lord appeared at the Meeting Tent in a cloud; the cloud stood over the entrance of the Tent. 16 And the Lord said to Moses, “You will soon die. Then these people will not be loyal to me but will worship the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will leave me, breaking the Agreement I made with them. 17 Then I will become very angry at them, and I will leave them. I will turn away from them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible things will happen to them. Then they will say, ‘It is because God is not with us that these terrible things are happening.’ 18 I will surely turn away from them then, because they have done wrong and have turned to other gods.
19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites. Then have them sing it, because it will be my witness against them. 20 When I bring them into the land I promised to their ancestors, a fertile land, they will eat as much as they want and get fat. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them. They will reject me and break my Agreement. 21 Then when many troubles and terrible things happen to them, this song will testify against them, because the song will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they plan to do, even before I take them into the land I promised them.” 22 So Moses wrote down the song that day, and he taught it to the Israelites.
Titus’ Work in Crete
5 I left you in Crete so you could finish doing the things that still needed to be done and so you could appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must not be guilty of doing wrong, must have only one wife, and must have believing children. They must not be known as children who are wild and do not cooperate. 7 As God’s managers, overseers must not be guilty of doing wrong, being selfish, or becoming angry quickly. They must not drink too much wine, like to fight, or try to get rich by cheating others. 8 Overseers must be ready to welcome guests, love what is good, be wise, live right, and be holy and self-controlled. 9 By holding on to the trustworthy word just as we teach it, overseers can help people by using true teaching, and they can show those who are against the true teaching that they are wrong.
10 There are many people who refuse to cooperate, who talk about worthless things and lead others into the wrong way—mainly those who insist on circumcision to be saved. 11 These people must be stopped, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching things they should not teach, which they do to get rich by cheating people. 12 Even one of their own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil animals, and lazy people who do nothing but eat.” 13 The words that prophet said are true. So firmly tell those people they are wrong so they may become strong in the faith, 14 not accepting Jewish false stories and the commands of people who reject the truth. 15 To those who are pure, all things are pure, but to those who are full of sin and do not believe, nothing is pure. Both their minds and their consciences have been ruined. 16 They say they know God, but their actions show they do not accept him. They are hateful people, they refuse to obey, and they are useless for doing anything good.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.