Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
90 Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, “Return, ye children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up;
6 in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down and withereth.
7 For we are consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.
9 For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath; we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of Thine anger? Even according to the fear of Thee, so is Thy wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long? And let Thee repent concerning Thy servants.
14 O satisfy us early with Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish Thou the work of our hands for us—yea, the work of our hands, establish Thou it.
17 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
2 “Speak unto the children of Israel, and take from every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, from all their princes according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods. Write thou every man’s name upon his rod.
3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi, for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
5 And it shall come to pass that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.”
6 And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7 And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.
8 And it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds.
9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod.
10 And the Lord said unto Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod again before the Testimony to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from Me, that they die not.”
11 And Moses did so; as the Lord commanded him, so did he.
3 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both of which I stir up your purity of mind by way of remembrance,
2 that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
3 knowing this first: that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
5 For of this they are willfully ignorant: that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water,
6 whereby the world as it then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
7 But the heavens and the earth which now are, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy manner of living and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things. Therein are some things hard to understand, which those who are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing that ye know these things beforehand, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.