Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 78
A Contemplative Maskil of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter insightful sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but will tell the coming generation
the praises of the Lord,
and His strength, and the wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a rule in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
that they should make them known to their children,
6 that the generation to come might know them,
even the children who are not yet born,
who will arise and declare them to their children:
7 that they might set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep His commandments,
Cities of Refuge(A)
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the children of Israel, ‘Choose refuge cities, as I told you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person without intent and unknowingly may flee there. They shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 “ ‘The refugee can flee to one of these cities then stand at the entrance of the city gate and tell his case to the city elders. They will take him into the city and give him a place to stay, and he will live with them. 5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they shall not hand over the manslayer to him, for he struck down his neighbor unintentionally with no premeditated malice. 6 He shall live in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his home and to his city from which he had fled.’ ”
7 They selected Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 Across the Jordan east of Jericho, they selected Bezer in the wilderness plain from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities designated for all the children of Israel and resident foreigners living among them, to which anyone who killed someone inadvertently could flee and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold(A)
24 Jesus departed from the temple and was leaving when His disciples came to show Him the temple buildings. 2 Jesus answered them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
Troubles and Persecutions(B)
3 As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered them, “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled. For all these things must happen, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, epidemics, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 Then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will rise and will deceive many. 12 Because iniquity will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.