Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ Then God said to Noah and his sons, ⁹ “See, I make My agreement with you, and with your children after you, ¹⁰ and with every living thing that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every animal of the earth, of all that came out of the large boat, every living thing on earth. ¹¹ I make My agreement with you, that never again will all flesh be destroyed by the water of a flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² Then God said, “This is something special to see for all time, because of the agreement that I am making between Me and you and every living thing that is with you: ¹³ I will set My rain-bow in the cloud, and it will be something special to see because of an agreement between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring clouds over the earth and the rain-bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember My agreement that is between Me and you and every living thing of all flesh. Never again will the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ When the rain-bow is in the cloud, I will look upon it to remember the agreement that will last forever between God and every living thing of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷ God said to Noah, “This is the special thing to see because of the agreement I have made between Me and all flesh upon the earth.”

Prayer to Be Kept Safe from Enemies

25 I lift up my soul to You, O Lord. ² O my God, I trust in You. Do not let me be ashamed. Do not let those who fight against me win. ³ Yes, let no one who hopes in You be put to shame. But put to shame those who hurt others without a reason.

⁴ Show me Your ways, O Lord. Teach me Your paths. ⁵ Lead me in Your truth and teach me. For You are the God Who saves me. I wait for You all day long. ⁶ Remember Your loving-pity and Your loving-kindness, O Lord. For they have been from old. ⁷ Do not remember my sins from when I was young, or my sinful ways. By Your loving-kindness remember me for You are good, O Lord.

⁸ Good and right is the Lord. So He teaches sinners in His ways. ⁹ He leads those without pride into what is right, and teaches them His way. ¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are loving and true for those who keep His agreement and keep His Laws.

Christ Suffered for Us

¹⁸ Christ suffered and died for sins once for all. He never sinned and yet He died for us who have sinned. He died so He might bring us to God. His body died but His spirit was made alive. ¹⁹ Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison. ²⁰ Those were the spirits of the people who would not obey in the days of Noah. God waited a long time for them while Noah was building the big boat. But only eight people were saved from dying when the earth was covered with water. ²¹ This is like baptism to us. Baptism does not mean we wash our bodies clean. It means we are saved from the punishment of sin and go to God in prayer with a heart that says we are right. This can be done because Christ was raised from the dead. ²² Christ has gone to heaven and is on the right side of God. Angels and powers of heaven are obeying Him.

The Baptism of Jesus ^(A)

⁹ Jesus came to the Jordan River from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee. He was baptized by John. ¹⁰ As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw heaven open up. The Holy Spirit came down on Him like a dove. ¹¹ A voice came from heaven and said, “You are My much-loved Son. I am very happy with You.”

Jesus Was Tempted ^(B)

¹² At once the Holy Spirit sent Jesus to a desert. ¹³ He was tempted by Satan for forty days there. He was with wild animals but angels took care of Him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee ^(C)

¹⁴ After John the Baptist was put in prison, Jesus came to the country of Galilee. He preached the Good News of God. ¹⁵ He said, “The time has come. The holy nation of God is near. Be sorry for your sins, turn from them, and believe the Good News.”