Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song for going up to worship.
128 Blessed are all who fear the Lord
and live his way.
2 You will certainly eat what your own hands have provided.
Blessings to you!
May things go well for you!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine inside your home.
Your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
4 This is how the Lord will bless the person who fears him.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion
so that you may see Jerusalem prospering
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children.
Let there be peace in Israel!
The Bronze Snake
4 Then they moved from Mount Hor, following the road that goes to the Red Sea, in order to get around Edom. The people became impatient on the trip 5 and criticized God and Moses. They said, “Why did you make us leave Egypt—just to let us die in the desert? There’s no bread or water, and we can’t stand this awful food!”
6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we criticized the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake, and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. People looked at the bronze snake after they were bitten, and they lived.[a]
Christ Is Superior to Moses
3 Brothers and sisters, you are holy partners in a heavenly calling. So look carefully at Jesus, the apostle and chief priest about whom we make our declaration of faith. 2 Jesus is faithful to God, who appointed him, in the same way that Moses was faithful when he served in God’s house. 3 Jesus deserves more praise than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house is praised more than the house. 4 After all, every house has a builder, but the builder of everything is God.
5 Moses was a faithful servant in God’s household. He told ⌞the people⌟ what God would say in the future. 6 But Christ is a faithful son in charge of God’s household. We are his household if we continue to have courage and to be proud of the confidence we have.
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