Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
78 (A)Listen, O my people, to my [b]instruction;
(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will (C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter (D)dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And (E)our fathers have told us.
4 We will (F)not conceal them from their children,
But (G)tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His (H)wondrous works that He has done.
5 For He established a (I)testimony in Jacob
And appointed a (J)law in Israel,
Which He (K)commanded our fathers
That they should [c](L)teach them to their children,
6 (M)That the generation to come might know, even (N)the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and (O)tell them to their children,
7 That they should put their confidence in God
And (P)not forget the works of God,
But (Q)keep His commandments,
Six Cities of Refuge
20 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘[a]Designate (A)the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you [b]through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who [c]kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the (B)gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall [d]take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. 5 Now (C)if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. 6 He shall dwell in that city (D)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall [e]return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”
7 So they [f]set apart (E)Kedesh in [g]Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in (F)the hill country of Judah. 8 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they [h]designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 (G)These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever [i]kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.
Signs of Christ’s Return
24 (A)Jesus (B)came out from the temple and was going away [a]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, (C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
3 As He was sitting on (D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of (E)Your coming, and of the [b]end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “(F)See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For (G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the [c]Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of (H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For (I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be (J)famines and earthquakes. 8 (K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9 “(L)Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and (M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 At that time many will [d](N)fall away and will [e]betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many (O)false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, [f]most people’s love will grow cold. 13 (P)But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This (Q)gospel of the kingdom (R)shall be preached in the whole [g](S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
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