Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK FOUR
Psalms 90–106
The Eternity of God, and Man’s Frailty
A Prayer (A)of Moses the man of God.
90 Lord, (B)You have been our [a]dwelling place in all generations.
2 (C)Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You [b]had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, (D)“Return, O children of men.”
4 (E)For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
(F)They are like a sleep.
In the morning (G)they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
13 Return, O Lord!
How long?
And (A)have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
(B)That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let (C)Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 (D)And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And (E)establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, (A)“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that (B)I may [a]inaugurate him.”
So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. 15 Now (C)the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle.
16 And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will [b]rest with your fathers; and this people will (D)rise and (E)play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will (F)forsake Me and (G)break My covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then My anger shall be (H)aroused against them in that day, and (I)I will forsake them, and I will (J)hide My face from them, and they shall be [c]devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, (K)‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is (L)not among us?’ 18 And (M)I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.
19 “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be (N)a witness for Me against the children of Israel. 20 When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves (O)and grown fat, (P)then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. 21 Then it shall be, (Q)when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for (R)I know the inclination (S)of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”
22 Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
Qualified Elders
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should (A)set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— 6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, (B)having faithful children not accused of [a]dissipation or insubordination. 7 For a [b]bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, (C)not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
The Elders’ Task
10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle (D)talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, (E)for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 (F)One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. (G)Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not giving heed to Jewish fables and (H)commandments of men who turn from the truth. 15 (I)To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to (J)know God, but (K)in works they deny Him, being [c]abominable, disobedient, (L)and disqualified for every good work.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.