Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Welcome for God into the Temple
A psalm of David.
24 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it—
the world and all its people.
2 He built it on the waters
and set it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts,
who have not worshiped idols,
who have not made promises in the name of a false god.
5 They will receive a blessing from the Lord;
the God who saves them will declare them right.
6 They try to follow God;
they look to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors
and the glorious King will come in.
8 Who is this glorious King?
The Lord, strong and mighty.
The Lord, the powerful warrior.
9 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors
and the glorious King will come in.
10 Who is this glorious King?
The Lord All-Powerful—
he is the glorious King. Selah
The Israelites Move Camp
11 The cloud lifted from the Tent of the Agreement on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year. 12 So the Israelites moved from the Desert of Sinai and continued until the cloud stopped in the Desert of Paran. 13 This was their first time to move, and they did it as the Lord had commanded Moses.
14 The divisions from the camp of Judah moved first under their flag. Nahshon son of Amminadab was the commander. 15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar. 16 Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. 17 Then the Holy Tent was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites, who carried it, moved next.
18 Then came the divisions from the camp of Reuben under their flag, and Elizur son of Shedeur was the commander. 19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon. 20 Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. 21 Then came the Kohathites, who carried the holy things; the Holy Tent was to be set up before they arrived.
22 Next came the divisions from the camp of Ephraim under their flag, and Elishama son of Ammihud was the commander. 23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, 24 and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.
25 The last ones were the rear guard for all the tribes. These were the divisions from the camp of Dan under their flag, and Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was the commander. 26 Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher; 27 Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. 28 This was the order the Israelite divisions marched in when they moved.
29 Hobab was the son of Reuel the Midianite,[a] who was Moses’ father-in-law. Moses said to Hobab, “We are moving to the land the Lord promised to give us. Come with us and we will be good to you, because the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”
30 But Hobab answered, “No, I will not go. I will go back to my own land where I was born.”
31 But Moses said, “Please don’t leave us. You know where we can camp in the desert, and you can be our guide. 32 Come with us. We will share with you all the good things the Lord gives us.” 33 So they left the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The Ark of the Lord’s Agreement went in front of the people for those three days, as they looked for a place to camp. 34 The Lord’s cloud was over them during the day when they left their camp.
35 When the Ark left the camp, Moses said,
“Rise up, Lord!
Scatter your enemies:
make those who hate you run from you.”
36 And when the Ark was set down, Moses said,
“Return, Lord,
to the thousands of people of Israel.”
The Birth of John
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she had a boy. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how good the Lord was to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him. They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name, 60 but his mother said, “No! He will be named John.”
61 The people said to Elizabeth, “But no one in your family has this name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name him.
63 Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John,” and everyone was surprised. 64 Immediately Zechariah could talk again, and he began praising God. 65 All their neighbors became alarmed, and in all the mountains of Judea people continued talking about all these things. 66 The people who heard about them wondered, saying, “What will this child be?” because the Lord was with him.
Zechariah Praises God
67 Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to help his people and has given them freedom.
69 He has given us a powerful Savior
from the family of God’s servant David.
70 He said that he would do this
through his holy prophets who lived long ago:
71 He promised he would save us from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 He said he would give mercy to our ancestors
and that he would remember his holy promise.
73 God promised Abraham, our father,
74 that he would save us from the power of our enemies
so we could serve him without fear,
75 being holy and good before God as long as we live.
76 “Now you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
77 You will make his people know that they will be saved
by having their sins forgiven.
78 With the loving mercy of our God,
a new day from heaven will dawn upon us.
79 It will shine on those who live in darkness,
in the shadow of death.
It will guide us into the path of peace.”
80 And so the child grew up and became strong in spirit. John lived in the desert until the time when he came out to preach to Israel.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.