Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Fourth Book—Psalms 90–106
Psalm 90[a]
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
I
Lord, you have been our refuge
through all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born,
the earth and the world brought forth,
from eternity to eternity you are God.(A)
3 You turn humanity back into dust,[b]
saying, “Return, you children of Adam!”(B)
4 A thousand years in your eyes
are merely a day gone by,(C)
Before a watch passes in the night,
5 [c]you wash them away;(D)
They sleep,
and in the morning they sprout again like an herb.
6 In the morning it blooms only to pass away;
in the evening it is wilted and withered.[d](E)
III
13 Relent, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Fill us at daybreak with your mercy,(A)
that all our days we may sing for joy.
15 Make us glad as many days as you humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.(B)
16 Show your deeds to your servants,
your glory to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God be ours.(C)
Prosper the work of our hands!
Prosper the work of our hands!
Commission to Joshua. 14 (A)The Lord said to Moses, The time is now approaching for you to die. Summon Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting that I may commission him. So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. 15 And the Lord appeared at the tent in a column of cloud; the column of cloud stood at the entrance of the tent.
A Command to Moses. 16 The Lord said to Moses, Soon you will be at rest with your ancestors, and then this people will prostitute themselves[a] by following the foreign gods among whom they will live in the land they are about to enter.(B) They will forsake me and break the covenant which I have made with them. 17 (C)At that time my anger will flare up against them; I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become a prey to be devoured, and much evil and distress will befall them. At that time they will indeed say, “Is it not because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us?” 18 Yet I will surely hide my face at that time because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods. 19 Now, write out this song(D) for yourselves. Teach it to the Israelites and have them recite it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey which I promised on oath to their ancestors, and they have eaten and are satisfied and have grown fat, if they turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant, 21 then, when great evil and distress befall them, this song will speak to them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten if their descendants recite it. For I know what they are inclined to do even at the present time, before I have brought them into the land which I promised on oath. 22 So Moses wrote this song that same day, and he taught it to the Israelites.
II. Pastoral Charge
Titus in Crete. 5 [a]For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you, 6 (A)on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious. 7 For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, 9 holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.(B) 10 [b]For there are also many rebels, idle talkers and deceivers, especially the Jewish Christians.[c] 11 It is imperative to silence them, as they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what they should not. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, once said, “Cretans have always been liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”[d] 13 That testimony is true. Therefore, admonish them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith,(C) 14 instead of paying attention to Jewish myths and regulations of people who have repudiated the truth.(D) 15 To the clean all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and their consciences are tainted.(E) 16 They claim to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. They are vile and disobedient and unqualified for any good deed.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.