Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

149 Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord! Sing him a new song. Sing his praises, all his people.

² O Israel, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King. ³ Praise his name with dancing, accompanied by drums and lyre.

^4-5 For Jehovah enjoys his people; he will save the humble. Let his people rejoice in this honor. Let them sing for joy as they lie upon their beds.

^6-7 Adore him, O his people! And take a double-edged sword to execute his punishment upon the nations. ⁸ Bind their kings and leaders with iron chains, ⁹ and execute their sentences.

He is the glory of his people. Hallelujah! Praise him!

9 “Go back to Pharaoh,” the Lord commanded Moses, “and tell him, ‘Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, demands that you let his people go to sacrifice to him. ² If you refuse, ³ the power of God will send a deadly plague to destroy your cattle, horses, donkeys, camels, flocks, and herds. ⁴ But the plague will affect only the cattle of Egypt; none of the Israeli herds and flocks will even be touched!’”

⁵ The Lord announced that the plague would begin the very next day, ⁶ and it did. The next morning all the cattle of the Egyptians began dying, but not one of the Israeli herds was even sick. ⁷ Pharaoh sent to see whether it was true that none of the Israeli cattle were dead, yet when he found out that it was so, even then his mind remained unchanged and he refused to let the people go.

¹¹ You have made me act like a fool—boasting like this—for you people ought to be writing about me and not making me write about myself. There isn’t a single thing these other marvelous fellows have that I don’t have too, even though I am really worth nothing at all. ¹² When I was there I certainly gave you every proof that I was truly an apostle, sent to you by God himself, for I patiently did many wonders and signs and mighty works among you. ¹³ The only thing I didn’t do for you, which I do everywhere else in all other churches, was to become a burden to you—I didn’t ask you to give me food to eat and a place to stay. Please forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴ Now I am coming to you again, the third time; and it is still not going to cost you anything, for I don’t want your money. I want you! And anyway, you are my children, and little children don’t pay for their father’s and mother’s food—it’s the other way around; parents supply food for their children. ¹⁵ I am glad to give you myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.

¹⁶ Some of you are saying, “It’s true that his visits didn’t seem to cost us anything, but he is a sneaky fellow, that Paul, and he fooled us. As sure as anything he must have made money from us some way.”

¹⁷ But how? Did any of the men I sent to you take advantage of you? ¹⁸ When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did they make any profit? No, of course not. For we have the same Holy Spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way.

¹⁹ I suppose you think I am saying all this to get back into your good graces. That isn’t it at all. I tell you, with God listening as I say it, that I have said this to help you, dear friends—to build you up spiritually—and not to help myself. ²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come to visit you I won’t like what I find, and then you won’t like the way I will have to act. I am afraid that I will find you quarreling, and envying each other, and being angry with each other, and acting big, and saying wicked things about each other, and whispering behind each other’s backs, filled with conceit and disunity. ²¹ Yes, I am afraid that when I come God will humble me before you and I will be sad and mourn because many of you have sinned before and don’t even care about the wicked, impure things you have done: your lust and immorality, and the taking of other men’s wives.