Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

An instruction. 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 parable; I will utter riddles from of old,

³ Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us:

⁴ We will not hide [them] from their sons, shewing forth to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his marvellous works which he hath done.

¹² In the sight of their fathers had he done wonders, in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan.

¹³ He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and made the waters to stand as a heap;

¹⁴ And he led them with a cloud in the daytime, and all the night with the light of fire.

¹⁵ He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as out of the depths, abundantly;

¹⁶ And he brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹² And Jehovah said to Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land that I have given unto the children of Israel.

¹³ And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy peoples, as Aaron thy brother was gathered,

¹⁴ because ye rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, as to hallowing me in the matter of the water before their eyes. (That is the water of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

²⁷ And they come again to Jerusalem. And as he walked about in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him,

²⁸ and they say to him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority, that thou shouldest do these things?

²⁹ And Jesus answering said to them, *I* also will ask you one thing, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:

³⁰ The baptism of John, was it of heaven, or of men? answer me.

³¹ And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say, Why [then] have ye not believed him?

³² but should we say, Of men—they feared the people; for all held of John that he was truly a prophet.

³³ And they answering say to Jesus, We do not know. And Jesus [answering] says to them, Neither do *I* tell you by what authority I do these things.