Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 78[a]
A New Beginning in Zion and David
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable,[b]
unfold the puzzling events of the past.(A)
3 What we have heard and know;
things our ancestors have recounted to us.(B)
4 We do not keep them from our children;
we recount them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and his strength,
the wonders that he performed.(C)
5 God made a decree in Jacob,
established a law in Israel:(D)
Which he commanded our ancestors,
they were to teach their children;
6 That the next generation might come to know,
children yet to be born.(E)
In turn they were to recount them to their children,
7 that they too might put their confidence in God,
And not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments.
Chapter 20
Cities of Refuge. 1 (A)The Lord said to Joshua:[a] 2 Tell the Israelites: Designate for yourselves the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 to which anyone guilty of inadvertent and unintentional homicide may flee for asylum from the avenger of blood. 4 To one of these cities the killer shall flee, and standing at the entrance of the city gate, shall plead his case in the hearing of the elders of the city, who must receive him and assign him a place in which to live among them. 5 Though the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver up to him the one who killed a neighbor unintentionally, when there had been no hatred previously. 6 Once he has stood judgment before the community, he shall live on in that city until the death of the high priest who is in office at the time. Then the killer may return home to the city from where he originally fled.
List of Cities. 7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the mountain region of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountain region of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the mountain region of Judah.(B) 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh.(C) 9 These are the designated cities to which any Israelite or alien residing among them who had killed a person unintentionally might flee to escape death at the hand of the avenger of blood, until the killer could appear before the community.
Chapter 24
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold. 1 [a](A)Jesus left the temple area and was going away, when his disciples approached him to point out the temple buildings. 2 [b]He said to them in reply, “You see all these things, do you not? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
The Beginning of Calamities. 3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives,[c] the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 [d]Jesus said to them in reply, “See that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. 6 (B)You will hear of wars[e] and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. 7 (C)Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. 8 [f]All these are the beginning of the labor pains. 9 [g](D)Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; 12 and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. 13 (E)But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 14 (F)And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations,[h] and then the end will come.
The Great Tribulation.[i]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.