Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer of the Sinner

51 O God, favor me because of Your loving-kindness. Take away my wrong-doing because of the greatness of Your loving-pity. ² Wash me inside and out from my wrong-doing and make me clean from my sin. ³ For I know my wrong-doing, and my sin is always in front of me. ⁴ I have sinned against You, and You only. I have done what is sinful in Your eyes. You are always right when You speak, and fair when You judge.

⁵ See, I was born in sin and was in sin from my very beginning. ⁶ See, You want truth deep within the heart. And You will make me know wisdom in the hidden part. ⁷ Take away my sin, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me hear joy and happiness. Let the bones that You have broken be full of joy. ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins. And take away all my wrong-doing.

¹⁰ Make a clean heart in me, O God. Give me a new spirit that will not be moved. ¹¹ Do not throw me away from where You are. And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Let the joy of Your saving power return to me. And give me a willing spirit to obey you.

The Altar for Special Perfume

30 “Make an altar for burning special perfume. Make it of acacia wood. ² It will be as long and as wide as a man’s arm and as high as a man’s waist. Its horns will be of one piece with it. ³ Cover its top, all its sides and its horns with pure gold. And make a piece of gold to go around it. ⁴ Then make two gold rings for the altar to put under this piece. Put one on each side of the altar so it can hold the long pieces of wood used for carrying it. ⁵ Make the long pieces of acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶ Put this altar in front of the curtain that is by the box of the Law, in front of the mercy-seat that is over the box of the Law. There I will meet with you. ⁷ Aaron will burn special perfume on it every morning when he takes care of the lamps. ⁸ And when Aaron takes care of the lamps in the evening, he will burn special perfume. There will be a burning of special perfume before the Lord for all your people for all time. ⁹ Do not give upon this altar any perfume, burnt gift or grain gift that is not holy. And do not pour out a drink gift on it. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron will give a gift for sin on its horns to take away sin. He will give the blood of the sin gift to make it holy once a year for all your people for all time. It is most holy to the Lord.”

Jesus—Our Great Religious Leader

¹⁴ We have a great Religious Leader Who has made the way for man to go to God. He is Jesus, the Son of God, Who has gone to heaven to be with God. Let us keep our trust in Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ Our Religious Leader understands how weak we are. Christ was tempted in every way we are tempted, but He did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us go with complete trust to the throne of God. We will receive His loving-kindness and have His loving-favor to help us whenever we need it.

The Job of a Religious Leader

5 Every Jewish religious leader is chosen from among men. He is a helper standing between God and men. He gives gifts on the altar in worship to God from the people. He gives blood from animals for the sins of the people. ² A Jewish religious leader is weak in many ways because he is just a man himself. He knows how to be gentle with those who know little. He knows how to help those who are doing wrong. ³ Because he is weak himself, he must give gifts to God for his own sins as well as for the sins of the people. ⁴ A Jewish religious leader does not choose this honor for himself. God chooses a man for this work. Aaron was chosen this way.