Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Death of Moses

34 Now Moses went up from the valleys of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, beside Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, ² all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the sea in the west, ³ the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your children.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not go there.” ⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, as the Word of the Lord said. ⁶ And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, beside Beth-peor. But no man knows where he is buried to this day. ⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died. But his eyes were not weak, and his strength had not left him. ⁸ The children of Israel cried for Moses in the valley of Moab for thirty days. Then the days of crying and sorrow for Moses came to an end.

⁹ Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel listened to him and did what the Lord had told Moses. ¹⁰ There has never been another man who speaks for God in Israel like Moses. The Lord knew him face to face. ¹¹ There has never been another like him who has done all the powerful works the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land. ¹² There has never been another who has shown all the great power and all the great fear which Moses did for all Israel to see.

God Is Forever—Man’s Short Life

90 Lord, You have been the place of comfort for all people of all time. ² Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, forever and ever, You are God.

³ You change man into dust again, and say, “Return, O children of men.” ⁴ For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday when it passes by, or like the hours of the night. ⁵ You carry men away as with a flood. They fall asleep. In the morning they are like the new grass that grows. ⁶ It grows well in the morning, but dries up and dies by evening.

¹³ Return, O Lord. How long will it be? Have pity upon those who work for You. ¹⁴ Fill us in the morning with Your loving-kindness. Let us sing for joy and be glad all our days. ¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as You have made us suffer, and for the years we have seen trouble. ¹⁶ Let Your work be shown to Your servants. And let Your wonderful greatness be shown to their children. ¹⁷ Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. And make the work of our hands stand strong. Yes, make the work of our hands stand strong.

2 Christian brothers, you know that my visit with you was not wasted. ² Just before we came to you, we had been in the city of Philippi. You know how they worked against us and made us suffer. But God helped us preach the Good News to you without fear, even while many people hated us and made it hard for us. ³ You remember what we said to you was true. We had no wrong desire in teaching you. We did not try to fool you. ⁴ God has allowed us to be trusted with the Good News. Because of this, we preach it to please God, not man. God tests and proves our hearts. ⁵ You know we never used smooth-sounding words. God knows we never tried to get money from you by preaching. ⁶ We never looked for thanks from men, not from you or from anyone else. But because we were missionaries of Christ, we could have asked you to do much for us. ⁷ Instead, we were gentle when we came to you. We were like a mother caring for her children. ⁸ We had such a strong desire to help you that we were happy to give you the Good News. Because we loved you so much, we were ready to give you our own lives also.

The Great Law ^(A)

³⁴ The proud religious law-keepers got together when they heard that the religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead were not able to talk anymore to Jesus. ³⁵ A proud religious law-keeper who knew the Law tried to trap Jesus. He said, ³⁶ “Teacher, which one is the greatest of the Laws?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest of the Laws. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Laws and the writings of the early preachers depend on these two most important Laws.”

⁴¹ The proud religious law-keepers were gathered together. Then Jesus asked, ⁴² “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” ⁴³ Jesus said to them, “Then how is it that David, being led by the Holy Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord’? He said, ⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right side until I make those who hate You a place to rest Your feet.”’ ^{(B) 45} If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ then how can He be the Son of David?” ⁴⁶ No one could answer a word, and after that day no one asked Him anything.