Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Praise

100 Call out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. ² Be glad as you serve the Lord. Come before Him with songs of joy. ³ Know that the Lord is God. It is He Who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His field.

⁴ Go into His gates giving thanks and into His holy place with praise. Give thanks to Him. Honor His name. ⁵ For the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. And He is faithful to all people and to all their children-to-come.

²⁵ “I will make a peace agreement with them and take away wild animals from the land. Then they will be safe as they live in the desert and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will bring good to them and to the places around My hill. I will give them rain when they need it. Good will rain down upon them. ²⁷ The trees of the field will give their fruit and the earth will give its food. They will be safe in their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the load from their backs and have saved them from those who made servants of them. ²⁸ They will no longer be under the power of the nations. And the wild animals of the earth will not eat them. But they will be safe, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will give them a land well known for its fields of food. They will never suffer with hunger again, and will no longer be put to shame by the nations. ³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the people of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God. ³¹ “You, My sheep, the sheep of My field, are people, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

The New Kind of Family ^(A)

⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the people, His mother and His brothers came and stood outside. They wanted to talk to Him. ⁴⁷ Someone said to Him, “Your mother and brothers are outside and want to talk to you.” ⁴⁸ Jesus said, “Who is My mother? And who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ He put out His hand to His followers and said, “See, these are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ Whoever does what My father in heaven wants him to do is My brother and My sister and My mother.”