Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

17 ¶ And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and set up camp in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink.

² And the people chided with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Why do ye tempt the LORD?

³ So the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?

⁴ Then Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.

⁵ And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod, with which thou didst smite the river take in thine hand and go.

⁶ Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the chiding of the sons of Israel and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

Maschil of Asaph.

¹ ¶ 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 enigmas of old,

³ which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

⁴ We will not hide them from their sons, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done.

¹² He did marvellous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

¹³ He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand as a heap.

¹⁴ In the daytime also he led them with a cloud and all the night with a light of fire.

¹⁵ He clave the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

¹⁶ He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers.

2 ¶ Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of charity, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

² fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same charity, unanimous, minding the one thing.

³ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in humility let each esteem others better than themselves,

⁴ with each one not looking to their own things, but also to the things of others.

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,

⁶ who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,

⁷ but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, made in the likeness of men,

⁸ and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. {Gr. stauros – stake}

⁹ Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name,

¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth,

¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord in the glory of God the Father.

¹² ¶ Therefore, my beloved, as ye have always hearkened, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own saving health with fear and trembling.

¹³ For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

²³ ¶ And when he was come into the temple, the princes of the priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

²⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a word, which if ye tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵ The baptism of John, where was it from? from heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

²⁶ But if we shall say, Of men, we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

²⁷ And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸ ¶ But what do you think? A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.

²⁹ He answered and said, I will not, but afterward he repented and went.

³⁰ And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I will go, Lord, and went not.

³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go ahead of you into the kingdom of God.

³² For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not, but the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him.