Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A (A)Contemplation[a] of Asaph.
78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a (B)parable;
I will utter [b]dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 (C)We will not hide them from their children,
(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
12 (A)Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, (B)in the field of Zoan.
13 (C)He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
And (D)He made the waters stand up like a heap.
14 (E)In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15 (F)He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
16 He also brought (G)streams out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Moses’ Error at Kadesh(A)
20 Then(B) the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in (C)Kadesh; and (D)Miriam died there and was buried there.
2 (E)Now there was no water for the congregation; (F)so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people (G)contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died (H)when our brethren died before the Lord! 4 (I)Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” 6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and (J)they [a]fell on their faces. And (K)the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 (L)“Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus (M)you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod (N)from before the Lord as He commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, (O)“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; (P)and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because (Q)you did not believe Me, to (R)hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
13 (S)This was the water of [b]Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.
32 And we declare to you glad tidings—(A)that promise which was made to the fathers. 33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
(B)‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’
34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to [a]corruption, He has spoken thus:
35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm:
(D)‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
36 “For David, after he had served [c]his own generation by the will of God, (E)fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and [d]saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised up [e]saw no corruption. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that (F)through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39 and (G)by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Behold,(H) you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.