Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 139
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 O Yahweh, you have examined me, and you know me.
2 You alone know when I sit down and when I get up.
You read my thoughts from far away.
3 You watch me when I travel and when I rest.
You are familiar with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a single word on my tongue,
you know all about it, Yahweh.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and in back of me.
You lay your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is beyond my grasp.
It is so high I cannot reach it.
13 You alone created my inner being.
You knitted me together inside my mother.
14 I will give thanks to you
because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book
before one of them had taken place.
17 How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O El!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I try to count them,
there would be more of them than there are grains of sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.
The Death of Joshua
6 Now, Joshua sent the people of Israel home. So each family went to take possession of the territory they had inherited. 7 The people served Yahweh throughout Joshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who had outlived him and who had seen all the spectacular works Yahweh had done for Israel. 8 Yahweh’s servant Joshua, son of Nun, died at the age of 110. 9 He was buried at Timnath Heres within the territory he had inherited. This was in the mountains of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. 10 That whole generation had joined their ancestors in death. So another generation grew up after them. They had no personal experience with Yahweh or with what he had done for Israel.
The Sin of the Next Generation
11 The people of Israel did what Yahweh considered evil. They began to serve other gods—the Baals. 12 The Israelites abandoned Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors, the Elohim who brought them out of Egypt. They followed the other gods of the people around them. They worshiped these gods, and that made Yahweh angry. 13 They abandoned Yahweh to serve the god Baal and the goddess Astarte. 14 So Yahweh became angry with the people of Israel. He handed them over to people who robbed them. He also used their enemies around them to defeat them. They could no longer stand up against their enemies. 15 Whenever the Israelites went to war, the power of Yahweh brought disaster on them. This was what Yahweh said he would do in an oath. So he made them suffer a great deal.
Paul’s Authority to Speak Forcefully
10 I, Paul, make my appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I’m the one who is humble when I’m with you but forceful toward you when I’m not with you. 2 I beg you that when I am with you I won’t have to deal forcefully with you. I expect I will have to because some people think that we are only guided by human motives. 3 Of course we are human, but we don’t fight like humans. 4 The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people’s defenses, that is, their arguments 5 and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. 6 We are ready to punish every act of disobedience when you have become completely obedient.
7 Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident he belongs to Christ, he should take note that we also belong to Christ. 8 So, if I brag a little too much about the authority which the Lord gave us, I’m not ashamed. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.
9 I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 I know that someone is saying that my letters are powerful and strong, but that I’m a weakling and a terrible speaker. 11 The person who is saying those things should take note of this fact: When we are with you we will do the things that we wrote about in our letters when we weren’t with you.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.