Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 When they were in the desert, all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, ‘It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in Egypt! There, we sat round pots with plenty of meat. We ate all the food that we wanted. But now you have brought us into this desert. We are so hungry that we will soon die!’
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will cause bread to fall down from the sky for you like rain. Each day, the people must go out and pick up enough bread for that day. In this way I will test them. I will discover whether they will obey my rules. 5 On the sixth day, they must pick up and prepare twice as much bread.’
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening, you will know who brought you out of Egypt. It was the Lord! 7 Then, in the morning, you will see how great the Lord is. The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. We, Moses and Aaron, are the Lord's servants. So you are complaining against him, not against us!’
8 Moses said to them, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening. And in the morning, he will give you all the bread that you want. He will do this because he has heard you when you complained against him. We are only his servants. You have said bad things against the Lord, not against us.’
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Say to all the Israelites, “The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. Now come together, and stand in front of him.” ’ 10 While Aaron spoke, the Israelites looked towards the desert. They saw the bright glory of the Lord which appeared in the cloud.
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘I have heard the bad things that the Israelites have said against me. Tell them this: “In the evening, you will eat meat. And in the morning you will eat all the bread that you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” ’
13 That evening, quails appeared. They covered all the ground round the tents.[a]
In the morning, there was dew on the ground round the tents. 14 When the dew had gone, thin white pieces remained on the dry ground, there in the desert. It seemed like frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw these pieces, they said, ‘What is it?’ They did not understand what it was. But Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread that the Lord has given to you. It is for you to eat.
God takes care of his people[a]
105 Thank the Lord!
Make his name famous!
Tell people in all the nations
what he has done.
2 Sing songs and make music
to praise him!
Tell people about the miracles that he has done.
3 Boast about his holy name.[b]
Everybody who wants to worship the Lord
should be very happy!
4 Ask the Lord to help you.
Ask him to give you strength.
Always try to be near him
and worship him.
5 Remember the great things that he has done.
Remember his miracles,
and the commands that he has spoken.[c]
6 Remember that you are descendants of God's servant, Abraham.
You are Jacob's descendants,
and God has chosen you to be his people.
37 So the Lord led his people out from Egypt.
They took with them valuable silver and gold things.
Nobody among the Israelite people was too weak to go.
38 The Egyptians were happy when they went,
because they were afraid of the Israelites.[a]
39 The Lord made a cloud to cover them
and a fire to give them light at night.
40 When they asked him for food,
he gave them quails to eat.
He fed them with bread from the sky.
41 He broke a rock,
so that water poured out from it.
It ran as a river through the dry places.
42 Yes, the Lord remembered the holy promise
that he had made to his servant, Abraham.
43 So he led his people out from Egypt,
and they were very happy!
They were the people that he had chosen for himself,
and they shouted with joy!
44 The Lord gave to them
the land of other nations.
They enjoyed the good things
that other people had worked to get.
45 Then God's people could obey his commands
and his laws.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
21 Christ is everything that I live for. If I die, that will be even better for me. 22 But if I continue to live, I will be able to do more good things to help people. I do not know whether it would be better to live or to die. I do not know which to choose. 23 Both of them seem very good to me. I want to leave this world so that I can be with Christ. That is a much better thing. 24 But you people need me to continue to live here in this world. 25 Yes, I am sure that you need me. For that reason, I know that I will continue to live among you. Then I will be able to help you to trust Christ even more. And that will make you even happier. 26 Then, when I am there with you again, you will have an even better reason to thank Christ Jesus.
27 The most important thing is that you continue to live in a good way. Live in the way that the good news about Christ teaches. I want to know that you agree together about the good news. And that you work together to show others that the good news is true. Whether I come to visit you or not, I want to know that you all help one another like that. 28 I want to know that you are not afraid of the people who speak against you. If you are brave, that will be a sign from God. It will show your enemies that they will lose and you will win. God will punish them, but he will save you. 29 God is helping you to serve Christ well. That means that you believe in Christ. But it also means that you receive trouble and pain on his behalf. Both of those are gifts from God. 30 You are receiving the same kinds of trouble that I myself receive. You saw that when I was with you. Now you hear that it is still happening to me.
Jesus tells a story about some workers in a field
20 Jesus said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. There was an important man who had a field where he grew grapes. He went out early in the morning. He wanted to find some people who would work in his field. 2 The master agreed with the workers that he would pay them one silver coin for a day's work.[a] Then he sent them to work in the field.
3 The master went out again about three hours later. He saw some other men standing in the market place. They had no work to do. 4 So the master said to these men, “You also go and work in my field. I will pay you the right amount of money.” 5 So the workers went to the master's field and started to work.
The master went out again at noon, and he went again three hours after that. Both times he sent men to his field to work. 6 Two hours later, at five o'clock, he went out again. He found more men who were standing there. And they had no work to do. The master asked them, “Why are you standing here all day and you are not working?”
7 The men said to the master, “Nobody has asked us to work for him.”
So the master said to them, “You also go now and work in my field.”
8 Then the evening came. The master of the field spoke to the man who had authority over the workers. He said to him, “Tell the workers to come here. Pay them their money. Begin with the workers who started to work at the end of the day. Finish with the workers who started first.”
9 The workers who had come to work at five o'clock in the evening received one silver coin each. 10 The workers who had come to work first thought that they would receive more than the other workers. But each of them also received one silver coin. 11 When they received their money, they were not happy. They told the master that he had not been fair to them. 12 They said to him, “Some of these other workers came last and only worked for one hour. But you have paid them the same money as you paid us. And we have worked all day in the hot sun.”
13 Then the master said to one of the workers, “My friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one day and to receive one silver coin. 14 Take your money and go home. I choose to give this last man the same amount of money as I gave to you. 15 It is my money. I can choose what to do with it. I want to be kind to people and give them more than we agreed. Does that make you upset?” ’
16 Jesus then said, ‘So, one day, those people who are not important now will become the most important. Those people who are very important now will become the least important.’
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