Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ Now the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ⁵ “Before I started to put you together in your mother, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart as holy. I chose you to speak to the nations for Me.” ⁶ Then I said, “O, Lord God! I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy.” ⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy.’ You must go everywhere I send you. And you must say whatever I tell you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them. For I am with you to take you out of trouble,” says the Lord. ⁹ Then the Lord put out His hand and touched my mouth, and said to me, “See, I have put My words in your mouth. ¹⁰ I have chosen you this day to be over the nations and the kings, to dig up and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

A Prayer of an Old Man

71 I have a safe place in you, O Lord. Let me never be ashamed. ² Because You are right and good, take me out of trouble. Turn Your ear to me and save me. ³ Be a rock to me where I live, where I may always come and where I will be safe. For You are my rock and my safe place. ⁴ O my God, take me from the hand of the sinful, from the hand of the wrong-doer and the man without pity. ⁵ For You are my hope, O Lord God. You are my trust since I was young. ⁶ You have kept me safe from birth. It was You Who watched over me from the day I was born. My praise is always of You.

¹⁸ For you have not come close to a mountain that you can touch. You have not come to worship where there is burning fire and darkness and storm and wind. ¹⁹ The sound of a horn was heard and God’s voice spoke. The people cried out to Moses to have God stop speaking to them. ²⁰ They could not stand to listen to His strong words, “Even if an animal comes to the mountain, it must be killed.” ^{(A) 21} What Moses saw was so hard to look at that he said, “I am full of fear and am shaking.” ^(B)

²² But instead, you have come to the mountain of Jerusalem. It is the city of the living God. It is the Jerusalem of heaven with its thousands of angels. ²³ You have gathered there with God’s children who were born long ago. They are citizens of heaven. God is there. He will judge all men. The spirits of all those right with God are there. They have been made perfect. ²⁴ Jesus is there. He has made a way for man to go to God. He gave His blood that men might worship God the New Way. The blood of Jesus tells of better things than that which Abel used.

²⁵ Be sure you listen to the One Who is speaking to you. The Jews did not obey when God’s Law was given to them on earth. They did not go free. They were punished. We will be punished more if we do not listen to God as He speaks from heaven. ²⁶ On Mount Sinai, God’s voice shook the earth. But now He has promised, saying, “Once more I will shake the earth and the heavens.” ^(C)

²⁷ When God says, “Once more,” He means He will take away everything of this world that can be shaken so the things that cannot be shaken will be left.

²⁸ Since we have received a holy nation that cannot be moved, let us be thankful. Let us please God and worship Him with honor and fear. ²⁹ For our God is a fire that destroys everything.

Jesus Heals on the Day of Rest

¹⁰ Jesus was teaching in one of the Jewish places of worship on the Day of Rest. ¹¹ A woman was there who had suffered for eighteen years because of a demon. She was not able to stand up straight. ¹² Jesus saw her and said, “Woman, you are now free from your trouble!” ¹³ Then He put His hand on her. At once she stood up straight and gave thanks to God.

¹⁴ The leader of the Jewish place of worship was angry because Jesus healed on the Day of Rest. The leader said to the people, “There are six days in which work should be done. Come on those days and get healed. Do not come to be healed on the Day of Rest.” ¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “You pretend to be someone you are not! Do not each of you let his cow or his donkey out and lead them to water on the Day of Rest? ¹⁶ Should not this Jewish woman be made free from this trouble on the Day of Rest? She has been chained by Satan for eighteen years.” ¹⁷ When He said this, all those who were against Him were ashamed. All the many people were glad for the great things being done by Him.