Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The King of Glory and His Kingdom
A Psalm of David.
24 The (A)earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
2 For He has (B)founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the [a]waters.
3 (C)Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has (D)clean hands and (E)a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor (F)sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who (G)seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah
7 (H)Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
(I)And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in (J)battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah
Departure from Sinai
11 Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud (A)was taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. 12 And the children of Israel set out from the (B)Wilderness of Sinai on (C)their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the (D)Wilderness of Paran. 13 So they started out for the first time (E)according to the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
14 The [a]standard of the camp of the children of Judah (F)set out first according to their armies; over their army was (G)Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.
17 Then (H)the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, (I)carrying the tabernacle.
18 And (J)the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies; over their army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
21 Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the (K)holy things. (The tabernacle would be [b]prepared for their arrival.)
22 And (L)the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.
25 Then (M)the standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of all the camps) set out according to their armies; over their army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 27 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.
28 (N)Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey.
29 Now Moses said to (O)Hobab the son of (P)Reuel[c] the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, (Q)‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and (R)we will treat you well; for (S)the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”
30 And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.”
31 So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can [d]be our (T)eyes. 32 And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that (U)whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.”
33 So they departed from (V)the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord (W)went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And (X)the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp.
35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:
(Y)“Rise up, O Lord!
Let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate You flee before You.”
36 And when it rested, he said:
“Return, O Lord,
To the many thousands of Israel.”
Birth of John the Baptist
57 Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they (A)rejoiced with her.
Circumcision of John the Baptist
59 So it was, (B)on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, (C)“No; he shall be called John.”
61 But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. 65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all those who heard them (D)kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And (E)the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zacharias’ Prophecy
67 Now his father Zacharias (F)was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed(G) is the Lord God of Israel,
For (H)He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 (I)And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 (J)As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been (K)since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 (L)To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 (M)The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might (N)serve Him without fear,
75 (O)In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
76 “And you, child, will be called the (P)prophet of the Highest;
For (Q)you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give (R)knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the [a]Dayspring from on high [b]has visited us;
79 (S)To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To (T)guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 So (U)the child grew and became strong in spirit, and (V)was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.