Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book IV
Psalms 90–106
Psalm 90
Teach Us to Number Our Days
Heading
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
God Is Eternal
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity you are God.
Man Is Mortal
3 You grind people to dust,
and you say, “Return, children of Adam.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day,
like yesterday that has gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away like a flood.
They are like sleep in the morning,
like grass which changes quickly.
6 In the morning it sprouts and grows.
By evening it is cut down, and it withers.
13 Turn, O Lord! How long!
Change your mind toward your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your mercy,
so that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 Let your deeds be seen by your servants
and your majesty by their children.
17 May the kindness of the Lord our God rest upon us.
Establish the work of our hands for us.
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
The Transition to Joshua
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time is approaching for you to die. Summon Joshua and stand at the Tent of Meeting, and I will commission him.”
So Moses and Joshua went and stood at the Tent of Meeting. 15 Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. 16 The Lord said to Moses:
“You are about to lie down with your fathers, but this people will rise up and prostitute themselves to the foreign gods among them in the land they are about to enter. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with them. 17 My anger will burn against them on that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them. They will be on the verge of being devoured, and many evils and distresses will find them. They will say on that day, ‘Haven’t these evil things found us because our God is not among us?’ 18 Yet I will hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.
19 “So now, write down this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths so this song will be my witness against the people of Israel. 20 When I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised by oath to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and grow fat, and they then turn to other gods and serve them, when they despise me and break my covenant, 21 and many evils and distresses find them, then this song will testify against them as a witness, because it will not be forgotten or gone from the mouths of their descendants. I certainly know the inclination that they are developing today before I bring them to the land that I have promised on oath.”
22 So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the people of Israel.
Titus’ Work in Crete
5 The reason I left you in Crete was so that you would set in order the things that were left unfinished and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you. 6 Such a man is to be blameless, the husband of only one wife, and to have believing children who are not open to a charge of wild living or disobedience. 7 Indeed an overseer, since he is God’s steward, must be blameless, not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not a drunkard, not violent, not eager for dishonest gain. 8 Instead, he must be hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, upright, devout, and disciplined. 9 He must cling to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he will be able both to encourage people by the sound teaching and also to correct[a] those who oppose him.
10 For there are many who are rebellious, whose words are empty, and who deceive, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 The mouths of these people must be stopped, because they are ruining whole households by teaching what they should not teach, for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of their own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”[b] 13 This testimony is true. For this reason, correct them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths or the commands of people who turn their backs on the truth. 15 All things are pure to those who are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are defiled and do not believe; rather, both their minds and consciences are defiled. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit to do anything good.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.