Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Welcome for God into the Temple
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built it on the waters.
He set it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts.
They must not have worshiped idols.
They must not have made promises in the name of a false god.
5 It is they who will receive a blessing from the Lord.
The God who saves them will declare them right.
6 They try to follow God.
They look to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
8 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord, strong and mighty.
The Lord, the powerful warrior.
9 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
10 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord of heaven’s armies—
he is the glorious king. Selah
The Israelites Move Camp
11 The cloud lifted from the Tent of the Agreement. This was on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year. 12 So the Israelites moved from the Desert of Sinai. They moved until the cloud stopped in the Desert of Paran. 13 This was their first time to move. They did it as the Lord had commanded Moses.
14 The divisions from the camp of Judah moved first under their flag. Nahshon son of Amminadab was the commander. 15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar. 16 Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. 17 Then the Meeting Tent was taken down. The Gershonites and Merarites, who carried it, moved next.
18 Then came the divisions from the camp of Reuben under their flag. Elizur son of Shedeur was the commander. 19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon. 20 Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. 21 Then came the Kohathites. They carried the holy things. The Holy Tent was to be set up before they arrived.
22 Next came the divisions from the camp of Ephraim under their flag. Elishama son of Ammihud was the commander. 23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh. 24 Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.
25 The last ones were the rear guard for all the tribes. These were the divisions from the camp of Dan under their flag. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was the commander. 26 Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher. 27 Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. 28 This was the order the Israelite divisions marched in when they moved.
29 Hobab was the son of Reuel the Midianite. Reuel, who is also called Jethro, was Moses’ father-in-law. Moses said to Hobab, “We are moving to the land God promised to give us. Come with us. We will be good to you. The Lord has promised good things to Israel.”
30 But Hobab answered, “No, I will not go. I will go back to my own land where I was born.”
31 But Moses said, “Please don’t leave us. You know where we can camp in the desert. You can be our guide. 32 Come with us. We will share with you all the good things the Lord gives us.” 33 So they left the mountain of the Lord. The Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went in front of the people. For three days they looked for a place to camp. 34 The Lord’s cloud was over them during the day when they left their camp.
35 When the Ark of the Covenant left the camp, Moses always said,
“Rise up, Lord!
Scatter your enemies.
Make those who are against you run from you.”
36 And when the Ark of the Covenant was set down, Moses always said,
“Return, Lord,
to the thousands of people of Israel.”
The Birth of John
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she had a boy. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how good the Lord was to her, and they rejoiced.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him. They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name. 60 But his mother said, “No! He will be named John.”
61 The people said to Elizabeth, “But no one in your family has this name!” 62 Then they made signs to his father, “What would you like to name him?”
63 Zechariah asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was surprised. 64 Then Zechariah could talk again. He began to praise God. 65 And all their neighbors became alarmed. In all the mountains of Judea people continued talking about all these things. 66 The people who heard about these things wondered about them. They thought, “What will this child be?” They said this because the Lord was with him.
Zechariah Praises God
67 Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He told the people what would happen:
68 “Let us thank the Lord, the God of Israel.
God has come to help his people and has given them freedom.
69 God has given us a powerful Savior
from the family of God’s servant David.
70 God said that he would do this.
He said it through his holy prophets who lived long ago.
71 God will save us from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 God said he would give mercy to our ancestors.
And he remembered his holy promise.
73 God promised Abraham, our father,
74 that he would free us from the power of our enemies,
so that we could serve him without fear.
75 We will be righteous and holy before God as long as we live.
76 “Now you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go first before the Lord
to prepare the people for his coming.
77 You will make his people know that they will be saved.
They will be saved by having their sins forgiven.
78 With the loving mercy of our God,
a new day from heaven will shine upon us.
79 God will help those who live in darkness,
in the fear of death.
He will guide us into the path that goes toward peace.”
80 And so the child grew up and became strong in spirit. John lived away from other people until the time when he came out to preach to Israel.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.