Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Is Good to His People

99 The Lord rules! Let the people shake in fear! He sits on His throne above the angels. Let the earth shake! ² The Lord is great in Zion. And He is honored above all people. ³ Let them praise Your great name. It is to be honored with fear. He is holy!

⁴ The strength of the King loves what is right. You have set up what is fair. You do what is right and fair in Jacob. ⁵ Honor the Lord our God. Worship at His feet. For He is holy!

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among His religious leaders. And Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called upon the Lord, and He answered them. ⁷ He spoke to them from the cloud. They kept His Word and the Law that He gave them. ⁸ O Lord our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them. But You punished them for their wrong-doing. ⁹ Honor the Lord our God. And worship at His holy mountain. For the Lord our God is holy!

⁶ Understand that it is not because you are right with God that the Lord your God is giving you this good land for your own, for you are a strong-willed people.

⁷ “Remember and do not forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. You have gone against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place. ⁸ Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry. The Lord was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. ⁹ I went up the mountain to receive the pieces of stone, the Laws of the agreement which the Lord had made with you. I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. ¹⁰ Then the Lord gave me the two pieces of stone written by the finger of God. On them were all the words the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain from the fire on the day of the meeting. ¹¹ At the end of forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two pieces of stone, the Laws of the agreement. ¹² Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up. Hurry and go down from here. For your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become very sinful. They have been quick to turn away from what I told them. They have made a false god for themselves.’ ¹³ And the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen these people. See, they are strong-willed. ¹⁴ Let Me alone, so I may destroy them and destroy their name from under heaven. I will make you into a nation that will be greater and stronger than they.’

God Speaks to a Man Who Was Not a Jew

10 There was a man in the city of Caesarea by the name of Cornelius. He was a captain of an Italian group of the army. ² He and his family were good people and honored God. He gave much money to the people and prayed always to God.

³ One afternoon about three o’clock he saw in a dream what God wanted him to see. An angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius.” ⁴ He was afraid as he looked at the angel. He said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel said, “Your prayers and your gifts of money have gone up to God. He has remembered them. ⁵ Send some men to the city of Joppa and ask Simon Peter to come here. ⁶ He is living with Simon, the man who works with leather. His house is by the sea-shore. He will tell you what you must do.” ⁷ The angel left him. Then Cornelius called two of his servants and a religious soldier who took care of him. ⁸ He told what had happened. Then he sent them to Joppa.