Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The One True God
115 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone,
and not to us, must glory be given
because of your constant love and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask us,
“Where is your God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever he wishes.
4 (A)Their gods are made of silver and gold,
formed by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
and eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
and noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
and feet, but cannot walk;
they cannot make a sound.
8 May all who made them and who trust in them
become[a] like the idols they have made.
9 Trust in the Lord, you people of Israel.
He helps you and protects you.
10 Trust in the Lord, you priests of God.
He helps you and protects you.
11 Trust in the Lord, all you that worship him.
He helps you and protects you.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us;
he will bless the people of Israel
and all the priests of God.
13 (B)He will bless everyone who honors him,
the great and the small alike.
14 May the Lord give you children—
you and your descendants!
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord alone,
but he gave the earth to us humans.
17 The Lord is not praised by the dead,
by any who go down to the land of silence.[b]
18 But we, the living, will give thanks to him
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
The Purification and Dedication of the Levites
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and purify them 7 in the following way: sprinkle them with the water of purification and have them shave their whole bodies and have them wash their clothes. Then they will be ritually clean. 8 Then they are to take a young bull and the required grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take another bull for the sin offering. 9 Then assemble the whole community of Israel and have the Levites stand in front of the Tent of my presence. 10 The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites, 11 and then Aaron shall dedicate the Levites to me as a special gift from the Israelites, so that they may do my work. 12 The Levites shall then put their hands on the heads of the two bulls; one is to be offered as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, in order to perform the ritual of purification for the Levites.
13 “Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them. 14 Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me. 15 After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent. 16 I have claimed them in the place of all the first-born sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone. 17 (A)When I killed all the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal. 18 I am now taking the Levites instead of all the first-born of the Israelites, 19 and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place.”
20 So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the Lord commanded Moses. 21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the Lord. He also performed the ritual of purification for them. 22 The people did everything the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.
1 From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I was chosen and sent to help the faith of God's chosen people and to lead them to the truth taught by our religion, 2 which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time, 3 and at the right time he revealed it in his message. This was entrusted to me, and I proclaim it by order of God our Savior.
4 (A)I write to Titus, my true son in the faith that we have in common.
May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.
Titus' Work in Crete
5 I left you in Crete, so that you could put in order the things that still needed doing and appoint church elders in every town. Remember my instructions: 6 (B)an elder must be without fault; he must have only one wife,[a] and his children must be believers and not have the reputation of being wild or disobedient. 7 For since a church leader is in charge of God's work, he should be without fault. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered, or a drunkard or violent or greedy for money. 8 He must be hospitable and love what is good. He must be self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the message which can be trusted and which agrees with the doctrine. In this way he will be able to encourage others with the true teaching and also to show the error of those who are opposed to it.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.