Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
NUN
105 Your word is like a lamp that shines as my guide.
It shows me the right way to live.
106 I have made a strong promise
that I will always obey your righteous rules.
107 I have a lot of trouble and pain.
Lord, please keep me safe,
as you have promised to do.
108 Lord, please accept the praise
that I choose to offer to you.
Teach me your rules.
109 My life is always in danger,
but I never forget your Law.
110 Wicked people try to catch me in a trap,
but I do not turn away from your teaching.
111 Your laws will always be with me.
They make me happy deep inside.
112 I have decided to obey your commands always,
until the end of my life.
Moses' song
32 Sky and earth, listen to my words! Hear what I am saying!
2 My teaching will be like the rain that falls.
My messages will help the people who hear them,
as rain helps new grass to grow.
3 I will praise the Lord's name.
Everyone must know that our God is very great!
4 He is the strong Rock where we can be safe.
Everything that he does is perfect.
He only does what is right and fair.
We can trust him to be faithful.
5 But you, his people, have not served him faithfully.
Because of your sins, you cannot continue to be his children.
You have turned against him.
You enjoy doing bad things.
6 You are fools who do not understand what is right.
You should not do these things against the Lord.
He is your Father, the one who created you.
He made you become a strong nation.
7 Remember what happened a long time ago.
Think about the lives of your ancestors.
Ask your father or the old men.
They will tell you what happened in the past.
8 The Most High God gave land to be the home of each nation.
When he made people into separate groups,
he decided where their borders should be.[a]
He did that to match the number of angels in heaven.[b]
9 But the Lord himself takes care of his own people.
Jacob's descendants are his special people.
10 The Lord found them in a desert place.
It was a place where strong winds blew and nobody lived.
He took care of them and he kept them safe.
He protected them, like someone protects their own eyes.
Paul's reason for writing this letter
14 My Christian friends, I myself am completely sure that you are always good. You know everything about God's message, so that you are able to teach one another what is right. 15 I know that is true, but I still needed to write this letter to you. I have written to you strongly, so that you would remember certain things. Because God is kind, he has chosen me to serve him in this way. 16 I am a servant of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles. I tell people God's good news. I work like a priest so that God will accept the Gentiles. I offer them to God. The Holy Spirit has made them clean and so God accepts them.
17 So I can be proud about my work. I can serve God well because I belong to Christ Jesus. 18 But I will only speak about the work that Christ has made me able to do. I have lived among the Gentiles and I have spoken God's message to them. They have obeyed God as a result of Christ's work through me. 19 God's Holy Spirit used his power to do many miracles. He caused many great and powerful things to happen. As a result, I have told the whole good news about Christ to many people. I have told it while I travelled all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum.[a]
20 I want to go to places where nobody has ever told people about Christ before. I want to tell the good news to people in those places. That is what I have always wanted to do. I do not want to work in a place where someone else has already started to teach God's message. 21 This is written in the Bible about God's Messiah:
‘Those people that nobody ever told them about him will now see.
Those people who have never heard about him will now understand.’[b]
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