Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
78 (A)Listen, O my people, to my [b]instruction;
(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will (C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter (D)dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And (E)our fathers have told us.
4 We will (F)not conceal them from their children,
But (G)tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His (H)wondrous works that He has done.
12 (A)He wrought wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the (B)field of Zoan.
13 He (C)divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand (D)up like a heap.
14 Then He led them with the cloud by (E)day
And all the night with a (F)light of fire.
15 He (G)split the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
16 He (H)brought forth streams also from the rock
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Death of Miriam
20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the (A)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.
2 (B)There was no water for the congregation, (C)and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3 (D)The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “(E)If only we had perished (F)when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 (G)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die [a]here? 5 Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? (H)It is not a place of [b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and (I)fell on their faces. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
The Water of Meribah
8 “Take (J)the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
9 So Moses took the rod (K)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “(L)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and (M)water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “(N)Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were the waters of [c](O)Meribah, [d]because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.
32 And we (A)preach to you the good news of (B)the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise [a]to our children in that He (C)raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘(D)You are My Son; today i have begotten You.’ 34 As for the fact that He (E)raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘(F)I will give you the holy and [b]sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘(G)You will not [c]allow Your [d]Holy One to [e]undergo decay.’ 36 For (H)David, after he had [f]served (I)the purpose of God in his own generation, (J)fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and [g]underwent decay; 37 but He whom God (K)raised did not [h]undergo decay. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that (L)through [i]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and [j]through Him (M)everyone who believes is [k]freed [l]from all things, from which you could not be [m]freed [n]through the Law of Moses. 40 Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of (N)in the Prophets may not come upon you:
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