Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Impotence of Idols
115 Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to your name be given glory
on account of your gracious love and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask
“Where now is their God?”
3 when our God is in the heavens
and he does whatever he desires?
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
crafted by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak;
they have eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear;
they have noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot touch;
feet, but cannot walk;
they cannot even groan with their throats.
8 Those who craft them will become like them,
as will all those who trust in them.
9 Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their helper and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their helper and shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their helper and shield.
12 The Lord remembers and blesses us.
He will indeed bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
both the important and the insignificant together.
14 May the Lord add to your numbers—
to you and to your descendants.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth.
16 The highest heavens[a] belong to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to human beings.
17 Neither can the dead praise the Lord,
nor those who go down into the silence of death.[b]
18 But we will bless the Lord
from now to eternity.
Hallelujah!
Purifying the Descendants of Levi
5 Then the Lord told Moses, 6 “Take the descendants of Levi from the Israelis and purify them. 7 This is what you are to do for them in order to purify them: Sprinkle purifying water over them, have them shave their skin, and then have them wash their garments, and they will be purified. 8 They are to take a young bull along with its meal offering made of flour mixed with oil. Then you are to take a second young bull as a sin offering. 9 Assemble the descendants of Levi in front of the appointed place of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of Israel, too. 10 Bring the descendants of Levi into the Lord’s presence and have the Israelis lay their hands on the descendants of Levi.
11 “Then Aaron is to present the descendants of Levi as a wave offering before the Lord from the Israelis, because they are to work in the service of the Lord. 12 The descendants of Levi are then to lay their hands on the head of the bulls, offering one for a sin offering and the other one for a burnt offering to the Lord to atone for the descendants of Levi. 13 You are to make the descendants of Levi stand in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Then you are to wave them as wave offerings to the Lord. 14 This is how you are to separate the descendants of Levi from among the Israelis. The descendants of Levi belong to me.
15 “After this, the descendants of Levi are to come to serve at the appointed place of meeting, after you have purified them and presented them as wave offerings, 16 since they’ve been set apart for me from among the Israelis. I’ve taken them for myself instead of the first to open the womb—every firstborn of the Israelis, 17 since every firstborn of Israel belongs to me, from human beings to livestock. On the same day that I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated them to myself, 18 taking the descendants of Levi instead of every firstborn of the Israelis. 19 I’ve set the descendants of Levi apart from the Israelis so that Aaron and his sons would work in service at the appointed place of meeting, making atonement on behalf of the Israelis so that there won’t be a plague among the Israelis whenever they approach the sanctuary.”
20 So Moses and Aaron and the Israelis did this on behalf of the descendants of Levi. The Israelis did everything that the Lord commanded concerning the descendants of Levi. 21 The descendants of Levi therefore purified themselves, washed their clothes, and then Aaron presented them as wave offerings to the Lord. Aaron provided atonement for them to purify them. 22 After this, the descendants of Levi entered into their work of service at the appointed place, in the presence of Aaron and his sons. They did everything that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the descendants of Levi.
Greetings
1 From:[a] Paul, a servant of God, and also an apostle of Jesus the Messiah,[b] to bring the faith to those chosen by God, along with full knowledge of the truth that leads to[c] godliness, 2 which is based on the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world[d] began. 3 At the right time he revealed his message through the proclamation that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.
4 To: Titus, a genuine child in the faith that we share.
May grace and peace[e] from God the Father and the Messiah,[f] Jesus our Savior, be yours!
Qualifications for Leaders in the Church
5 The reason I left you in Crete was to complete what still needed to be done and to appoint elders in every city, as I myself commanded you. 6 An elder must be[g] blameless. He must be the husband of one wife[h] and have children who are believers and who are not accused of having wild lifestyles or of being rebellious. 7 Because an overseer is God’s servant manager, he must be blameless. He must not be arrogant or irritable. He must not drink too much, be a violent person, or make money in shameful ways. 8 Instead, he must be hospitable to strangers, must appreciate what is good, and be sensible, honest, moral, and self-controlled. 9 He must be devoted to the trustworthy message that agrees with what we teach, so that he may be able to encourage others with healthy doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.