Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

One True God

115 Let honor be given to Your name and not to us, O Lord, not to us. Because You are loving and kind and faithful. ² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God now?” ³ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He wants to do. ⁴ Their gods are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ⁵ They have mouths but they cannot speak. They have eyes but they cannot see. ⁶ They have ears but they cannot hear. They have noses but they cannot smell. ⁷ They have hands but they cannot feel. They have feet but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound come out of their mouths. ⁸ Those who make them and trust them will be like them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹² The Lord has remembered us and will make good come to us. He will make good come to the house of Israel. He will make good come to the house of Aaron. ¹³ He will make good come to those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. ¹⁴ May the Lord make your numbers grow, both you and your children. ¹⁵ May you be given good things by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens belong to the Lord. But He has given the earth to the children of men. ¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord. Neither do those who go down into the quiet place. ¹⁸ But we will give honor and thanks to the Lord, now and forever. Praise the Lord!

²⁹ “Aaron will carry the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breast-piece of judging when he goes in the holy place, so they will be remembered before the Lord all the time.

Other Religious Leaders’ Clothes

³⁰ “Put the Urim and the Thummim into the breast-piece over Aaron’s heart when he goes before the Lord. Aaron will carry the judging of the people of Israel over his heart before the Lord all the time.

³¹ “Make the long piece of clothing all of blue. ³² There will be an opening at its top in the center. Around the opening it will be sewed like the opening on heavy battle clothes, so it may not be torn. ³³ Make pomegranates of blue and purple and red cloth to put all around the bottom of this clothing. And put bells of gold between them. ³⁴ Put a gold bell and a pomegranate, then a gold bell and a pomegranate, all the way around the bottom of this clothing. ³⁵ Aaron will wear it when he serves Me. The sound of the bells will be heard when he goes in the holy place and when he comes out so that he will not die.

³⁶ “Make a plate of pure gold and write on it, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ ³⁷ Put it to the front of the head covering with a blue rope. ³⁸ It will be on Aaron’s forehead. Aaron will take away the sin of the holy things which the people of Israel set apart for the Lord as their holy gifts. It will always be on his forehead, so they may be received by the Lord.

Paul Gives Thanks For the True Christians

³ I thank God for you whenever I think of you. ⁴ I always have joy as I pray for all of you. ⁵ It is because you have told others the Good News from the first day you heard it until now. ⁶ I am sure that God Who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again. ⁷ It is right for me to feel like this about all of you. It is because you are very dear to me. While I was in prison and when I was proving that the Good News is true, you all shared God’s loving-favor with me. ⁸ God knows what I am saying. He knows how much I love you all with a love that comes from Jesus Christ. ⁹ And this is my prayer: I pray that your love will grow more and more. I pray that you will have better understanding and be wise in all things. ¹⁰ I pray that you will know what is the very best. I pray that you will be true and without blame until the day Christ comes again. ¹¹ And I pray that you will be filled with the fruits of right living. These come from Jesus Christ, with honor and thanks to God.