Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
Blessed are the people he chose to be his own.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees everyone.
14 From his throne he watches
all those who live on the earth.
15 He creates the hearts of all people.
He is aware of everything they do.
16 A king isn’t saved just because his army is big.
A soldier doesn’t escape just because he is very strong.
17 People can’t trust a horse to save them either.
Though it is very strong, it can’t save them.
18 But the Lord looks with favor on those who respect him.
He watches over those who put their hope in his faithful love.
19 He watches over them to save them from death.
He wants to keep them alive when there is no food in the land.
20 We wait in hope for the Lord.
He helps us. He is like a shield that keeps us safe.
21 Our hearts are full of joy because of him.
We trust in him, because he is holy.
22 Lord, may your faithful love be with us.
We put our hope in you.
Israel Comes to Mount Sinai
19 Exactly three months after the people of Israel left Egypt, they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they started out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai. They camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
3 Then Moses went up to God. The Lord called out to him from the mountain. He said, “Here is what I want you to say to my people, who belong to Jacob’s family. Tell the Israelites, 4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt. You saw how I carried you on the wings of eagles and brought you to myself. 5 Now obey me completely. Keep my covenant. If you do, then out of all the nations you will be my special treasure. The whole earth is mine. 6 But you will be a kingdom of priests to serve me. You will be my holy nation.’ That is what you must tell the Israelites.”
7 So Moses went back. He sent for the elders of the people. He explained to them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. 8 All the people answered together. They said, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
9 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “I am going to come to you in a thick cloud. The people will hear me speaking with you. They will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
2 When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers gathered in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound came from heaven. It was like a strong wind blowing. It filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw something that looked like fire in the shape of tongues. The flames separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in languages they had not known before. The Spirit gave them the ability to do this.
5 Godly Jews from every country in the world were staying in Jerusalem. 6 A crowd came together when they heard the sound. They were bewildered because each of them heard their own language being spoken. 7 The crowd was really amazed. They asked, “Aren’t all these people who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then why do we each hear them speaking in our own native language? 9 We are Parthians, Medes and Elamites. We live in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia. We are from Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia. Others of us are from Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Still others are visitors from Rome. 11 Some of the visitors are Jews. Others have accepted the Jewish faith. Also, Cretans and Arabs are here. We hear all these people speaking about God’s wonders in our own languages!”
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