Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for Help—Praise for the Answer

28 O Lord, to You I call. O my Rock, listen to me. If You will not hear me, I will be like those who have gone down to the grave. ² Hear my cry for loving-kindness as I call to You for help, and when I lift up my hands to Your holy place. ³ Do not drag me away with the sinful and with those who do bad things. They speak peace with their neighbors, while sin is in their hearts. ⁴ Pay them for their work and for the sins they do. Pay them for the works of their hands. Give them what they have earned. ⁵ They do not think about the works of the Lord and what His hands have done. So He will pull them down and not build them up again.

⁶ May honor and thanks be given to the Lord, because He has heard my prayer. ⁷ The Lord is my strength and my safe cover. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. So my heart is full of joy. I will thank Him with my song. ⁸ The Lord is the strength of His people. He is a safe place for His chosen one. ⁹ Save Your people and bring good to what is Yours. Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

¹⁵ Moses said to the Lord, ¹⁶ “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, choose a man to lead the people. ¹⁷ Let this man go out and come in before them. Let him lead them out and bring them in. Then the people of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” ¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Have him stand in front of Eleazar the religious leader and in front of all the people. Let them see you give him the work he must do. ²⁰ Give some of your power to him so all the people of Israel will obey him. ²¹ He will stand in front of Eleazar the religious leader, who will learn My will for him by using the Urim. At his word, both he and all the people of Israel will go out and at his word, they will come in.” ²² Moses did just as the Lord told him. He took Joshua and had him stand in front of Eleazar the religious leader, and in front of all the people. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and gave him the work he must do, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

⁸ Remember this! Jesus Christ, Who was born from the early family of David, was raised from the dead! This is the Good News I preach. ⁹ I suffer much and am in prison as one who has done something very bad. I am in chains, but the Word of God is not chained. ¹⁰ I suffer all things so the people that God has chosen can be saved from the punishment of their sin through Jesus Christ. Then they will have God’s shining-greatness that lasts forever. ¹¹ These things are true. If we die with Him, we will live with Him also. ¹² If we suffer and stay true to Him, then we will be a leader with Him. If we say we do not know Him, He will say He does not know us. ¹³ If we have no faith, He will still be faithful for He cannot go against what He is.