Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.
149 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a (A)new song,
And His praise (B)in the congregation of the godly ones.
2 Let Israel be glad in (C)his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their (D)King.
3 Let them praise His name with (E)dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with (F)timbrel and lyre.
4 For the Lord (G)takes pleasure in His people;
He will (H)beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.
5 Let the (I)godly ones exult in glory;
Let them (J)sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the (K)high praises of God be in their [c]mouth,
And a (L)two-edged (M)sword in their hand,
7 To (N)execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings (O)with chains
And their (P)nobles with fetters of iron,
9 To (Q)execute on them the judgment written;
This is an (R)honor for all His godly ones.
[d]Praise [e]the Lord!
Egyptian Cattle Die
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “(A)Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 For (B)if you refuse to let them go and [a]continue to hold them, 3 behold, (C)the hand of the Lord [b]will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. 4 (D)But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that (E)nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.”’” 5 The Lord set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and (F)all the livestock of Egypt died; (G)but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. 7 Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But (H)the heart of Pharaoh was [c]hardened, and he did not let the people go.
11 I have become (A)foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for (B)in no respect was I inferior to the [a]most eminent apostles, even though (C)I am a nobody. 12 The [b](D)signs [c]of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by [d]signs and wonders and [e]miracles. 13 For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that (E)I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me (F)this wrong!
14 Here (G)for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I (H)will not be a burden to you; for I (I)do not seek what is yours, but (J)you; for (K)children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but (L)parents for their children. 15 I will (M)most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If (N)I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I (O)did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I (P)took you in by deceit. 17 (Q)Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? 18 I (R)urged (S)Titus to go, and I sent (T)the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not [f]conduct ourselves [g]in the same (U)spirit and walk (V)in the same steps?
19 All this time [h]you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, (W)it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and (X)all for your upbuilding, (Y)beloved. 20 For I am afraid that perhaps (Z)when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be (AA)strife, jealousy, (AB)angry tempers, (AC)disputes, (AD)slanders, (AE)gossip, (AF)arrogance, (AG)disturbances; 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have (AH)sinned in the past and not repented of the (AI)impurity, [i]immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.
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