Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This is a song that David wrote.
The great King[a]
24 The whole earth belongs to the Lord.
Everybody who lives in the world
and all the things in it belong to him.
2 The Lord built the foundation of the earth.
He built it on the seas and the rivers.[b]
3 Who may climb up the hill of the Lord?[c]
Who can stand in his holy place?[d]
4 Only the person who does what is right,
and who has pure thoughts.
He does not worship idols
and he does not make false promises.
5 The Lord will bless people who are like that.
God will save them.
He will say that they are not guilty of wrong things.
6 People like that come to God.
They want to please him.
They like to pray to the God of Jacob.
Selah.
7 Old gates of the city, wake up!
Open now, to leave a wide path!
Then the great king will come in.
8 Who is this great king?
He is the Lord,
who is strong and powerful.
He is the Lord,
who wins against his enemies.
9 Be ready, you old gates of the city!
Be ready to open wide!
Then the great king will come in.
10 Who is this great king?
He is the Almighty Lord.
Yes, he is the great king!
Selah.
The Israelites leave the Sinai desert
11 In the second year, in the second month, on the 20th day of the month, the cloud went up. It went away from God's Tent of Meeting. 12 So the Israelites started to travel on their journey away from the Sinai desert.[a] Then the cloud stopped in the desert called Paran. 13 They started to travel for the first time, in the way that the Lord had told them to do, through Moses.
14 The flag of the camp of Judah's tribe, started to travel first, with all their armies. And Nahshon the son of Amminadab was over all their armies. 15 Nethanel, the son of Zuar, was over the army of the tribe of Issachar. 16 Eliab, the son of Helon, was over the army of the tribe of Zebulun. 17 Then the Levites packed God's Tent. Then Gershon's clan and Merari's clan, who were carrying God's Tent, started to travel.
18 Next the flag of the camp of Reuben started to travel, with all their armies. Elizur, the son of Shedeur, was over all their armies. 19 Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, was over the army of the tribe of Simeon. 20 Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, was over the army of the tribe of Gad. 21 Then Kohath's clan started to travel. They were carrying the holy things. Before they arrived at the new camp, the other Levites would put up God's Tent.
22 Next the flag of the camp of the tribe of Ephraim started to travel, with all their armies. Elishama the son of Ammihud was over all their armies. 23 And Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was over the army of the tribe of Manasseh. 24 And Abidan the son of Gideoni was over the army of the tribe of Benjamin.
25 Then the flag of the camp of the tribe of Dan started to travel last, with all their armies. They could keep the Israelites safe if an enemy attacked them from behind them. Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai was over all their armies. 26 And Pagiel the son of Ocran was over the army of the tribe of Asher. 27 And Ahira the son of Enan was over the army of the tribe of Naphtali. 28 The Israelites marched out like that every time that they started to travel.
29 Moses spoke to Reuel's son, Hobab. He was the brother of Moses' wife. He was a Midianite. Moses said to Hobab, ‘We are leaving here now to go to another place. The Lord has said to us, “I will give that place to you.” The Lord has promised to help Israel's people with good things. So come with us and we will take care of you.’
30 But Hobab said to him, ‘I will not come. Instead, I will return to my own country and to my family there.’
31 Moses said, ‘Please do not leave us. You know good places for us to put up our tents in the desert. So you can be our guide. 32 And if you come with us, we will share with you the good things that the Lord gives to us.’
33 So the Israelites left the Lord's mountain. They travelled for three days. During that time, the Levites carried the Lord's Covenant Box in front of them. That was so that the Lord could show them where to make their camp. 34 And the Lord's cloud was over them during the day, whenever they started to travel from the camp.
35 Each time that the Covenant Box started to travel Moses said, ‘Be ready, Lord! Cause your enemies to run away in every direction!’ 36 When they stopped travelling, Moses said, ‘Return, Lord, to be near to the thousands of Israel's people.’
John the Baptist is born
57 The time arrived for Elizabeth to have her baby. She had a son. 58 Her family and the people who lived near her heard about her baby. They knew that the Lord had been very kind to her. They saw that she was happy. So they were happy too. 59 When the child was eight days old, people met together to circumcise him.[a] They wanted to call the child Zechariah. This was the same name that his father had.
60 Elizabeth said, ‘No. His name will be John.’
61 They replied, ‘But you do not have anyone in your family called John. That cannot be right.’ 62 So they used their hands to make signs to the baby's father. They wanted to ask him what his son's name should be.[b]
63 Zechariah asked for something to write on. He wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was very surprised at what he wrote. 64 Immediately, Zechariah could speak again. He could speak easily. He began to thank God aloud.[c]
65 The people who lived near Zechariah and Elizabeth were very surprised. They saw how great God was. Many people who lived in the hills of Judea also talked about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard about these things thought about them. They asked each other, ‘When this child becomes a man, what will he be?’ They could see that God really was with him.
Zechariah's song
67 The Holy Spirit filled John's father, Zechariah, so that he spoke God's message:
68 ‘The Lord God of Israel is a great God.
He has come to save his people. He has come to make them free.
69 He has sent a very strong person who will save us.[d]
This person comes from the family of his servant, King David.
70 Long ago, God promised that he would do this.
He gave his own prophets this message to speak.
71 God will save us from our enemies.
He will save us from everyone that hates us.
72 He has promised to be kind to our ancestors.
He will do the things that he promised in his holy covenant.
73 Yes, he will remember the strong promises that he spoke to Abraham.[e]
74 God said, “I will keep you safe from your enemies.
Then you can serve me and not be afraid.
75 You can live in a way that is good and right.
You can do this all your lives.” ’[f]
76 Zechariah then spoke to John:
‘You, my child, will be called a prophet of the powerful God who is over all.
You will go in front of the Lord to prepare a way for him.
77 You will tell God's people how God can save them.
They have done wrong things but God will forgive them.
78 Our God will forgive us because he is very kind.
He will send someone from the highest place.
When this person comes, it will be like the sunrise for us.[g]
79 He will bring light to people who are living without God.
It is like those people are living in the dark. They are afraid to die.
But he will shine on them.
He will show us how to live so that we will not be afraid.’[h]
80 Zechariah's child grew. God made him strong in his mind. He went into the wilderness and he lived there for many years. Later, God sent him to Israel's people, to teach them.[i]
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