Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm. When the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
51 Have mercy, God, according to your gracious love,
according to your unlimited compassion,
erase my transgressions.
2 Wash me from my iniquity,
cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgression;
my sin remains continuously before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned,
and done what was evil in your sight.
As a result, you are just in your pronouncement
and clear in your judgment.
5 Indeed, in iniquity I was brought forth;
in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person,
and you will teach me wisdom in my[a] innermost parts.
7 Purge me with hyssop,
and I will be clean.
Wash me,
and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me know[b] joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your countenance from my sins
and erase the record of my iniquities.
10 God, create a pure heart in me,
and renew a right attitude within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence;
do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and let a willing attitude control me.
Joshua’s Retirement Address to Israel
23 Many years later, after the Lord had given peace[a] between Israel and all its surrounding enemies, and after Joshua had become very old, 2 Joshua called together all Israel, including their leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers. He told them, “I am old now after having lived many years. 3 You have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to all of these nations on your behalf, because it has been the Lord your God who has been fighting on your behalf. 4 Now look, I have allocated these nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, including all of the nations that I have eliminated, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean[b] Sea to the west.[c] 5 The Lord your God will expel them in front of you, driving them out of your sight. You will take possession of this land, just as the Lord your God promised you. 6 Stand very strong, then, so you can obey and carry out everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left of it. 7 That way, you will not mingle with those nations that remain among you, nor mention the name of their gods, nor make oaths by them,[d] nor serve them, nor worship them. 8 Instead, you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done today, 9 because the Lord has expelled great and strong nations ahead of you. Now as for you, not a single man has been able to oppose you right to this day. 10 A single man makes a thousand flee, because the Lord your God is the one who is fighting for you, just as he promised you.
11 “So be very diligent to love the Lord your God, 12 because if you ever turn back and cling to those who remain of these nations by intermarrying with them and associating one with another, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive out these nations ahead of you. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap for you, a whip to your backs, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the Lord your God has given you.
14 “Look here: today I’m going down the path that everyone on earth takes, and you know with all your hearts and souls that not a single word of all of the good things that the Lord your God spoke about you has failed to happen. Everything has been fulfilled about you—not one of them has failed. 15 However, just as all of the good things have come about that the Lord your God promised, so also the Lord will bring upon you all of the threats until he has destroyed you from possessing this good land that he[e] has given you. 16 When you break the covenant of the Lord your God that he commanded you to obey by going to serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the Lord will blaze against you, and you will perish quickly from this good land that he gave you.”
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the cup in an unworthy manner will be held responsible for the Lord’s body and blood. 28 A person must examine himself and then eat the bread and drink from the cup, 29 because whoever eats and drinks[a] without recognizing the body,[b] eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That’s why so many of you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dying.[c] 31 But if we judged ourselves correctly, we would not be judged. 32 Now, while we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so we won’t[d] be condemned along with the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers, when you gather to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather it may not bring judgment on you. And when I come I will give instructions concerning the other matters.
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