Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord is King
97 The Lord reigns!
Let the earth rejoice!
May many islands be glad!
2 Thick clouds are all around him;
righteousness and justice are his throne’s foundation.
3 Fire goes out from his presence
to consume his enemies on every side.
4 His lightning bolts light the world;
the earth sees and shakes.
5 Mountains melt like wax in the Lord’s presence—
In the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness
so that all the nations see his glory.
7 All who serve carved images—
and those who praise idols—will be humiliated.
Worship him, all you “gods”!
The Lord Instructs Israel to Leave
33 The Lord told Moses, “Go up[a] from here, you and the people whom you brought out of Egypt, to the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, ‘I’ll give it to your descendants.’[b] 2 I’ll send an angel in front of you and I’ll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I won’t go up among you, because you are an obstinate[c] people, and otherwise I might consume you along the way.”
4 When the people heard this troubling word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 The Lord had told Moses, “Say to the Israelis, ‘You are an obstinate people,[d] and if for one moment I went up among you, I would put an end to you. Now take off your ornaments so I may decide[e] what to do with you.’” 6 So the Israelis did not wear[f] their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have embraced it yet.[a] But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize[b] of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah[c] Jesus.
15 Therefore, those of us who are mature[d] should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will show you how to think.[e] 16 However, we should live up to what we have achieved so far.
True and False Teachers
17 Join together in imitating me, brothers, and pay close attention to those who live by the example we have set for you.[f] 18 For I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of the Messiah.[g] 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.
20 Our citizenship, however, is in heaven, and it is from there that we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[h] 21 He will change our unassuming bodies and make them like his glorious body through the power that enables him to bring everything under his authority.
Closing Exhortations
4 Therefore, my dear brothers whom I long for, my joy and my victor’s crown, this is how you must stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.
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