Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

63 A psalm of David when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judea.

O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you! ² How I wish I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory, ³ for your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. How I praise you! ⁴ I will bless you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. ⁵ At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise you with great joy.

⁶ I lie awake at night thinking of you— ⁷ of how much you have helped me—and how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of your wings. ⁸ I follow close behind you, protected by your strong right arm.

13 Jehovah now instructed Moses, ² “Send spies into the land of Canaan—the land I am giving to Israel; send one leader from each tribe.”

¹⁷ Moses sent them out with these instructions: “Go northward into the hill country of the Negeb, ¹⁸ and see what the land is like; see also what the people are like who live there, whether they are strong or weak, many or few; ¹⁹ and whether the land is fertile or not; and what cities there are, and whether they are villages or are fortified; ²⁰ whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are many trees. Don’t be afraid, and bring back some samples of the crops you see.” (The first of the grapes were being harvested at that time.)

²¹ So they spied out the land all the way from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob near Hamath. ²² Going northward, they passed first through the Negeb and arrived at Hebron. There they saw the Ahimanites, Sheshites, and Talmites, all families descended from Anak. (By the way, Hebron was very ancient, having been founded seven years before Tanis^[a] in Egypt.) ²³ Then they came to what is now known as the valley of Eshcol where they cut down a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also took some samples of the pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ The Israelis named the valley “Eshcol” at that time (meaning “Cluster”) because of the cluster of grapes they found!

²⁵ After forty days of exploration they returned from their tour. ²⁶ They made their report to Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and they showed the fruit they had brought with them.

²⁷ This was their report: “We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country—a land ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ Here is some fruit we have brought as proof. ²⁸ But the people living there are powerful, and their cities are fortified and very large; and what’s more, we saw Anakim giants there! ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the south, while in the hill country there are the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites; down along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Jordan River Valley are the Canaanites.”

³⁰ But Caleb reassured the people as they stood before Moses. “Let us go up at once and possess it,” he said, “for we are well able to conquer it!”

³¹ “Not against people as strong as they are!” the other spies said. “They would crush us!”

³² So the majority report of the spies was negative: “The land is full of warriors, the people are powerfully built, ³³ and we saw some of the Anakim there, descendants of the ancient race of giants. We felt like grasshoppers before them, they were so tall!”

14 Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they carried on all night. ² Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron.

“We wish we had died in Egypt,” they wailed, “or even here in the wilderness, ³ rather than be taken into this country ahead of us. Jehovah will kill us there, and our wives and little ones will become slaves. Let’s get out of here and return to Egypt!” ⁴ The idea swept the camp. “Let’s elect a leader to take us back to Egypt!” they shouted.

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell face downward on the ground before the people of Israel. ⁶ Two of the spies, Joshua (the son of Nun), and Caleb (the son of Jephunneh), ripped their clothing ⁷ and said to all the people, “It is a wonderful country ahead, ⁸ and the Lord loves us. He will bring us safely into the land and give it to us. It is very fertile, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’! ⁹ Oh, do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land. For they are but bread for us to eat! The Lord is with us and he has removed his protection from them! Don’t be afraid of them!”

^22-23 One day while they were still in Galilee, Jesus told them, “I am going to be betrayed into the power of those who will kill me, and on the third day afterwards I will be brought back to life again.” And the disciples’ hearts were filled with sorrow and dread.

²⁴ On their arrival in Capernaum, the Temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your master pay taxes?”

²⁵ “Of course he does,” Peter replied.

Then he went into the house to talk to Jesus about it, but before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings levy assessments against their own people or against conquered foreigners?”

^26-27 “Against the foreigners,” Peter replied.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the shore and throw in a line, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin to cover the taxes for both of us; take it and pay them.”