Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 78
How Often They Rebelled
Heading
A maskil by Asaph.
A Solemn Call to Hear
1 Give ear, O my people, to my instruction.
Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth to share a lesson.
I will speak about puzzling problems from long ago,
3 things we have heard and known,
things our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants.
We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He set up testimony for Jacob.
In Israel he established the law.
He commanded our fathers to make it known to their children.
6 Then the next generation would know it,
even the children not yet born.
They would rise up and tell their children.
7 Then they would put their confidence in God,
and they would not forget the deeds of God,
but they would keep his commands.
Cities of Refuge
20 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua 2 and told him to give the people of Israel the following directions:
Designate for yourselves the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moses. 3 A person who takes a life may flee to one of them, if that person has killed someone by accident, without intent. These cities are to serve for you as a refuge from the avenger[a] of blood.
4 The person is to flee to one of these cities and stand at the entrance to the gate of the city and state his case before a hearing of the elders of that city. They are to receive him into the city and give him a place where he can live with them. 5 When the avenger of blood pursues him, the elders are not to hand over the person who took a life to the avenger, because that person killed his fellow man without intent, and he had not been his enemy previously. 6 The killer is to live in that city until he stands in front of the community for judgment, and then until the death of the high priest who presides in those days. At that time the one who took a life may return to his city and to his house—to the city from which he fled.
7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 Also in the region on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
9 These were the appointed cities for all the people of Israel and for the aliens residing among them, so that anyone killing a person accidentally could flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood before he stood trial in the presence of the community.
The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World
24 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the temple buildings. 2 Then he replied to them, “Do you see all of these things? Amen I tell you: Not one stone here will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”
3 While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?”
4 Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 Because many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many people. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains. 9 Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will put you to death. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 Then many will fall away from faith. They will betray each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But whoever endures to the end will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.