Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

90 The praise of a canticle for David. He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.

² He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.

³ For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.

⁴ He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.

⁵ His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.

⁶ Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.

⁷ A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.

⁸ But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked.

⁹ Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge.

¹⁰ There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.

¹¹ For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.

¹² In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

¹³ Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

¹⁴ Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name.

¹⁵ He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.

¹⁶ I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation.

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of every man upon his rod.

³ And the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod shall contain all their families:

⁴ And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to thee.

⁵ Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, wherewith they murmur against you.

⁶ And Moses spoke to the children of Israel: and all the princes gave him rods one for every tribe: and there were twelve rods besides the rod of Aaron.

⁷ And when Moses had laid them up before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony:

⁸ He returned on the following day, and found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded: and that the buds swelling it had bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were formed into almonds.

⁹ Moses therefore brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel: and they saw, and every one received their rods.

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses: Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be kept there for a token of the rebellious children of Israel, and that their complaints may cease from me lest they die.

¹¹ And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

3 Behold this second epistle I write to you, my dearly beloved, in which I stir up by way of admonition your sincere mind:

² That you may be mindful of those words which I told you before from the holy prophets, and of your apostles, of the precepts of the Lord and Saviour.

³ Knowing this first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

⁴ Saying: Where is his promise or his coming? for since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

⁵ For this they are wilfully ignorant of, that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God.

⁶ Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men.

⁸ But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

⁹ The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up.

¹¹ Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness?

¹² Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat?

¹³ But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice dwelleth.

¹⁴ Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace.

¹⁵ And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you:

¹⁶ As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness.

¹⁸ But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.