Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

99 Jehovah is King! Let the nations tremble! He is enthroned between the Guardian Angels. Let the whole earth shake.

² Jehovah sits in majesty in Zion, supreme above all rulers of the earth. ³ Let them reverence your great and holy name.

⁴ This mighty King is determined to give justice. Fairness is the touchstone of everything he does. He gives justice throughout Israel. ⁵ Exalt the Lord our holy God! Bow low before his feet.

⁶ When Moses and Aaron and Samuel, his prophet, cried to him for help, he answered them. ⁷ He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud, and they followed his instructions. ⁸ O Jehovah our God! You answered them and forgave their sins, yet punished them when they went wrong.

⁹ Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for he is holy.

⁷ Moses always erected the sacred tent (the “Tent for Meeting with God,” he called it) far outside the camp, and everyone who wanted to consult with Jehovah went out there.

⁸ Whenever Moses went to the Tabernacle, all the people, when they saw it, stood and would rise and stand in their tent doors. ⁹ As he entered, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the door while the Lord spoke with Moses. ¹⁰ Then all the people worshiped from their tent doors, bowing low to the pillar of cloud. ¹¹ Inside the tent the Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend. Afterwards Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua (son of Nun), stayed behind in the Tabernacle.

⁹ I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but proud Diotrephes, who loves to push himself forward as the leader of the Christians there, does not admit my authority over him and refuses to listen to me. ¹⁰ When I come I will tell you some of the things he is doing and what wicked things he is saying about me and what insulting language he is using. He not only refuses to welcome the missionary travelers himself but tells others not to, and when they do he tries to put them out of the church.

¹¹ Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do what is right prove that they are God’s children; and those who continue in evil prove that they are far from God. ¹² But everyone, including Truth itself, speaks highly of Demetrius. I myself can say the same for him, and you know I speak the truth.