Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The veil and the glory

¹² So, because that’s the kind of hope we have, we speak with great freedom. ¹³ We aren’t like Moses: he put a veil over his face, to stop the children of Israel from gazing at the end of what was being abolished. ¹⁴ The difference is that their minds were hardened. You see, the same veil lies over the reading of the old covenant right up to this very day. It isn’t taken away, because it’s in the Messiah that it is abolished.

¹⁵ Yes, even to this day, whenever Moses is read, the veil lies upon their hearts; ¹⁶ but “whenever he turns back to the Lord, the veil is removed.” ¹⁷ Now “the Lord” here means the spirit; and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And all of us, without any veil on our faces, gaze at the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, and so are being changed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as you’d expect from the Lord, the spirit.

Light out of darkness

4 For this reason, since we have this work entrusted to us in accordance with the mercy we have received, we don’t lose heart. ² On the contrary, we have renounced the secret things that make people ashamed. We don’t use tricks; we don’t falsify God’s word. Rather, we speak the truth openly, and recommend ourselves to everybody’s conscience in the presence of God.

The transfiguration

²⁸ About eight days after this conversation, Jesus took Peter, John and James and went up a mountain to pray. ²⁹ And, as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became shining white. ³⁰ Two men appeared, talking with him: it was Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was going to fulfill in Jerusalem.

³² Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but they managed to stay awake. They saw his glory, and the two men who were standing there with him.

³³ As they were going away from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” He didn’t know what he was saying; ³⁴ but as the words were coming out of his mouth a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And a voice came from the cloud: “This is my son, my chosen one: listen to him.” ³⁶ As the voice spoke, there was Jesus by himself. They kept silent, and told nobody at that time anything of what they had seen.

³⁷ The next day, as they were going down from the mountain, a large crowd met them. ³⁸ A man from the crowd shouted out, “Teacher! Please, please have a look at my son! He’s my only child, ³⁹ and look what’s happening to him! A spirit seizes him, and suddenly it shrieks and convulses him, so that he foams at the mouth. It goes on savaging him, and it’s almost impossible to get it to leave him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they couldn’t.”

⁴¹ “You faithless and depraved generation!” said Jesus in reply. “How long shall I be with you and have to put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴² While he was on the way, the demon tore at him and threw him into convulsions. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ Everyone was astonished at the greatness of God.

While they were all still expressing amazement at everything he had done, Jesus said to his disciples,