Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

One True God

115 Let honor be given to Your name and not to us, O Lord, not to us. Because You are loving and kind and faithful. ² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God now?” ³ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He wants to do. ⁴ Their gods are 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. They cannot make a sound come out of their mouths. ⁸ Those who make them and trust them will be like them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹² The Lord has remembered us and will make good come to us. He will make good come to the house of Israel. He will make good come to the house of Aaron. ¹³ He will make good come to those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. ¹⁴ May the Lord make your numbers grow, both you and your children. ¹⁵ May you be given good things by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens belong to the Lord. But He has given the earth to the children of men. ¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord. Neither do those who go down into the quiet place. ¹⁸ But we will give honor and thanks to the Lord, now and forever. Praise the Lord!

The Song of Deborah

5 That day Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang this song: ² “The leaders led in Israel. The people were willing to help them. For this we give thanks to the Lord! ³ Hear, O kings! Listen, O rulers! I will sing to the Lord. I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁴ Lord, You went out from Seir. You walked from the field of Edom. And the earth shook. Water fell from the heavens. Yes, water fell from the clouds. ⁵ The mountains shook before the Lord. Mount Sinai shook before the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁶ “In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the wide roads were empty. Travelers walked on the side roads. ⁷ Country towns were empty. They were no more in Israel, until I, Deborah, came. I came as a mother in Israel. ⁸ New gods were chosen. Then war was in the gates. No battle-covering or sword was seen among 40,000 in Israel. ⁹ My heart is with the leaders of Israel, who were willing to help among the people. Thanks be to the Lord! ¹⁰ Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys and you who sit on rich floor coverings. Tell of it, you who travel on the road. ¹¹ They will tell of the right and good acts of the Lord at the sound of music beside the wells of water. They will tell of His right and good acts toward His towns people in Israel. Then the people of the Lord went down to the gates.

²⁶ What am I saying, Christian brothers? When you meet together for worship, some of you have a song to sing. Some of you want to teach and some have special words from God. Some of you speak in special sounds and some of you tell what they mean. Everything should be done to help those who are meeting together to grow strong as Christians. ²⁷ No more than two or three people should speak in special sounds. Only one should speak at a time. Someone must tell the meaning of the special sounds. ²⁸ If no one is there who can tell the meaning of the special sounds, he should not speak in the church. He should speak only to himself and to God. ²⁹ Two or three should speak God’s Word. The other people should listen and decide if they are speaking right. ³⁰ If someone sitting in the meeting gets some special word from God, the one who is speaking should stop. ³¹ All of you can speak God’s Word, but only one person at a time. In that way, all of you can learn and be helped. ³² Men who speak God’s Word are able to stop when they should. ³³ God does not want everyone speaking at the same time in church meetings. He wants peace. All the churches of God’s people worship this way.

³⁴ Women should not be allowed to speak in church meetings. They are to obey this teaching. The Law says this also. ³⁵ If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a shame for a woman to speak in a church meeting.

³⁶ Did the Word of God come from you Christians in the city of Corinth? Or are you the only people who received it? ³⁷ Some of you may think you have the gift of speaking God’s Word or some other gift from the Holy Spirit. If you do, you should know that what I am writing to you is what God has told us we must obey. ³⁸ If any man does not listen to this, have nothing to do with him.

³⁹ So then, my Christian brothers, you should want to speak God’s Word. Do not stop anyone from speaking in special sounds. ⁴⁰ All things should be done in the right way, one after the other.