Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Moses' face shines

²⁹ Moses came down from Sinai mountain. He carried the two stones of the covenant in his hands. As he came down the mountain, he did not know that his face was shining. His face was shining because he had spoken with the Lord. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, they could see that his face was shining. They were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called out to them. So Aaron and the leaders of the people came back to him. Then Moses talked to them. ³² After this, all the Israelites came near to Moses. He told them all the commands that the Lord had given to him on Sinai mountain.

³³ When Moses had finished speaking to the people, he covered his face with a thin cloth. ³⁴ But when he went into the special tent to speak with the Lord, he would remove the cloth. When he came out again, he would tell God's commands to the Israelites. ³⁵ They could see that his face was shining. So Moses would put the thin cloth over his face again. The cloth would stay on his face until he went into the special tent again to speak with the Lord.

The Lord is holy!^[a]

¹² So, because we know all this, we speak God's message bravely. ¹³ We are not like Moses. His face did not continue to be bright with the light from God. So he covered his face with a cloth. He did not want the Israelite people to see that the light was coming to an end. ¹⁴ But those Israelite people could not think properly. Even today, they still do not understand the message of God's old agreement. When they read it, they are like people who have a cloth that covers their minds. It continues like that unless they believe in Christ. Then Christ removes the cloth so that they understand. ¹⁵ Even today, when the Israelite people read Moses' books, a cloth still covers their minds. ¹⁶ But when a person turns to trust the Lord, then God takes the cloth away.^[a]

¹⁷ The Lord is the same as the Spirit. And when the Lord's Spirit is with anyone, that person is free. ¹⁸ We show the power of the Lord to other people. It is like God has removed a cloth from over our faces. He is changing us so that we become more and more like him. We show how great God is more and more clearly. It is the Lord who does all this, by the work of his Spirit.

God's good news brings light

4 God has given us this work to speak his message. Because he has been so kind to us, we are not afraid to continue. ² We refuse to do anything secretly that we might be ashamed of. We do not tell lies. We do not change God's message to deceive people. No. We tell God's true message clearly. God himself sees that we teach people in an honest way. Everyone should understand that we only do what is right.

²⁸ About eight days after Jesus had said these things, he went up a mountain to pray. He took Peter, John and James with him. ²⁹ While Jesus was praying, his face became different to look at.^[a] His clothes also became very white. They were shining brightly.

³⁰ Then two men appeared and they were talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah.^{[b] 31} They were very bright to look at. They talked with Jesus about how he would soon die in Jerusalem. This was how God wanted him to leave this world.

³² While this was happening, Peter and his friends were sleeping. Then they really woke up and they saw that Jesus was very great and beautiful. They also saw the two men that were standing near to him. ³³ Then the two men began to leave. So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please, let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’ But Peter did not really know what he was saying.^[c]

³⁴ While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared. It covered them all. When the cloud came over them, the three disciples were afraid. ³⁵ Then a voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son. He is the one that I have chosen. Listen to him.’

³⁶ The voice stopped speaking. Then the three disciples saw that only Jesus was there with them now.

They did not tell anyone at this time about what they had seen.

Jesus makes a boy well

³⁷ The next day Jesus came down from the mountain with the three disciples. A large crowd met him. ³⁸ A man from the crowd shouted to him. ‘Teacher, please, I ask you to help my son. He is my only child. ³⁹ Sometimes a bad spirit takes hold of him and then he screams. The spirit throws his body first one way then another and water comes out of his mouth. The spirit gives him a lot of pain and it does not leave him alone very much. ⁴⁰ I asked your disciples to send the bad spirit out of him. But they could not do it.’

⁴¹ Jesus said, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’ Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring your son here.’

⁴² While the boy was coming, the bad spirit threw him to the ground. It threw the boy first one way and then the other. ‘Stop!’ Jesus said to it. He then made the boy well and he gave him back to his father.

⁴³ Everybody was very surprised at what they saw. They knew that God was very powerful.

Jesus speaks again about his death

The people were still thinking with surprise about everything that Jesus was doing. Then he began to talk to his disciples.