Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The One True God
115 ·It does not belong [L Not to us, not] to us, Lord.
The glory belongs to ·you [L your name]
because of your ·love [loyalty] and ·loyalty [faithfulness].
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he pleases.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 People who make ·idols [L them] ·will be [or are] like them,
and so will those who ·trust [have confidence in] them [135:15–18; Is. 44:9–20; 46:6–7; Jer. 10:1–9; Hab. 2:18–19].
9 ·Family of [L O] Israel, ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
10 ·Family [L House] of Aaron [C the priests], ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
11 You who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] should ·trust [have confidence in] him;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the ·family [L house] of Israel;
he will bless the ·family [L house] of Aaron [C the priests].
13 The Lord will bless those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
from the ·smallest [or least] to the greatest.
14 May the Lord ·give you success [make you increase],
and may he give you and your children ·success [increase].
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord;
those ·in the grave are silent [L who go down in silence].
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
29 “When Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will wear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart, on the ·chest covering that helps in making decisions [breastpiece of judgment; 28:15]. This will be a continual reminder before the Lord. 30 And put the Urim and Thummim [C devices, probably lots, that were used to discern God’s will; the name means “light and truth”] inside the ·chest covering [breastpiece] so that they will be on Aaron’s heart when he goes before the Lord. They will help in making decisions for the Israelites. So Aaron will always carry them with him when he is before the Lord.
31 “Make the outer robe ·to be worn under the holy vest [L of the ephod], ·using only blue cloth [L all of blue]. 32 Make ·a hole [an opening] in the center for ·Aaron’s [L the] head, with a woven collar ·with an oversewn edge [L like a coat of mail; C the Hebrew is obscure] around the ·hole [opening] so it will not tear. 33 Make balls like pomegranates of blue, purple, and ·red [scarlet] thread, and hang them around the bottom of the outer robe with gold bells between them. 34 All around the bottom of the outer robe there should be a gold bell and a pomegranate ball, a gold bell and a pomegranate ball. 35 Aaron must wear this robe when he ·serves as priest [ministers]. ·The ringing of the bells [L Their sound] will be heard when he enters and leaves the Holy Place before the Lord so that he will not die.
36 “Make a ·strip [rosette; medallion; plate; L flower] of pure gold and ·carve [engrave] these words on it as you would ·carve [engrave] a ·seal [signet]: ‘Holy to the Lord.’ 37 Use blue ·ribbon [cord] to tie it to the turban; put it on the front of the turban. 38 Aaron must wear this on his forehead. In this way, he will ·be blamed [L carry/bear the guilt] if anything is wrong with the ·gifts [holy offerings] of the Israelites. ·Aaron must always wear this on his head [L It will always be on his forehead] so the Lord will ·accept the gifts of the people [L be favorable toward them].
Paul’s Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you. 5 I thank God for ·the help you gave me [L your partnership/participation] in ·spreading the Good News [L the Good News/Gospel] from the first day you believed until now. 6 God began doing a good work in you, and I am ·sure [confident; persuaded] he will continue it until it is ·finished [completed; perfected] ·when Jesus Christ comes again [L on the day of Christ Jesus; C the final day of judgment and reward].
7 And I know that I am right to think like this about all of you, because ·I have you in my [or you have me in your] heart. All of you ·share [are partners/co-sharers] in God’s grace with me while I am in ·prison [chains; C Paul is probably writing from house arrest in Rome, about ad 60; see Acts 28:30–31] and while I am defending and ·proving the truth of [confirming] the ·Good News [Gospel]. 8 [L For] God ·knows [L is my witness] that I ·want [long] to see you very much, because I love all of you with the ·love [affection] of Christ Jesus.
9 This is my prayer for you: that your love will ·grow [increase; abound] more and more; that you will have knowledge and ·understanding [insight; discernment] with your love; 10 that you will ·see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good [L discern/test and prove what is best]; that you will be pure and ·without wrong [blameless] ·for the coming [in the day; v. 6] of Christ; 11 that you will be filled with the ·good things produced in your life by Christ [L fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ] to bring glory and praise to God.
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