Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord, the Fair and Holy King
99 The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 98:6; Rev. 19:6].
Let the peoples ·shake [tremble; C with fear].
He sits between the ·gold creatures with wings [L cherubim; C above the Ark of the Covenant; Ex. 25:17–22; 1 Kin. 8:7].
Let the earth shake.
2 The Lord in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] is great;
he is ·supreme [exalted] over all the peoples.
3 Let them ·praise [thank] your name;
it is great, holy and ·to be feared [awesome].
4 The King is ·powerful [strong] and loves justice.
Lord, you ·made [established] things fair;
you have done what is ·fair [righteous] and ·right [just]
for the people of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
5 ·Praise [Exalt] the Lord our God,
and ·worship [bow down] at the footstool of his feet [C the Ark located in the Temple].
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
and Samuel was among ·his worshipers [L those who called on his name].
They called to the Lord,
and he answered them [Ex. 32:11–13, 30–32; Num. 12:13; 14:13–19; 1 Sam. 7:5, 8–9; 12:16–18; Jer. 15:1].
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud [Ex. 13:21].
They ·kept [observed; guarded] the ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·laws [decrees; testimonies] he gave them.
8 Lord our God, you answered them.
You showed them that you are a forgiving God,
but you ·punished them [are an avenger] for their wrongs [Deut. 32:35; Is. 34:8; Ezek. 24:8; 25:14–17; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 12:19; 1 Thess. 4:6].
9 ·Praise [Exalt] the Lord our God,
and ·worship [bow down] at his holy mountain,
because the Lord our God is holy.
6 The Lord your God is giving you this good land to ·take [possess] as your own. But know this: It is not because you are ·good [righteous]; you are a ·stubborn [L stiff-necked] people.
Remember the Lord’s Anger
7 Remember this and do not forget it: You made the Lord your God angry in the ·desert [wilderness]. You ·would not obey [rebelled against] the Lord from the day you left Egypt until you arrived here. 8 At ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; 1:6] you made the Lord angry—angry enough to destroy you [Ex. 32]. 9 When I went up on the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets with the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] the Lord had ·made [L cut] with you, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights; I did not eat bread or drink water. 10 The Lord gave me two stone tablets, which God had written on with his own finger [C the Ten Commandments; Ex. 20:2–17; 31:18]. On them were all the commands that the Lord gave to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day ·you were gathered there [of the assembly].
11 When the forty days and forty nights were over, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets with the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] on them. 12 Then the Lord told me, “Get up and go down quickly from here, because the people you brought out from Egypt are ·ruining [corrupting] themselves. They have quickly turned away from ·what [L the way] I commanded and have made an idol for themselves [C a golden calf; Ex. 32:3–4].”
13 The Lord said to me, “I have watched these people, and they are very ·stubborn [L stiff-necked]! 14 Get away so that I may destroy them and ·make the whole world forget who they are [L blot off their name from under heaven]. Then I will make another nation from you that will be bigger and stronger than they are.”
Peter Teaches Cornelius
10 At Caesarea [C a coastal city, 25 miles south of Mount Carmel; a center of Roman government for Palestine] there was a man named Cornelius, ·an officer [L a centurion; C an officer in charge of about a hundred soldiers] in the Italian ·group of the Roman army [L cohort; regiment; C a cohort was about six hundred soldiers]. 2 Cornelius was a ·religious [pious; godly] man. He and all ·the other people who lived in his house [his household] ·worshiped the true God [L feared God; C “God-fearers” were Gentiles who worshiped the one true God of Israel]. He gave much of his money to ·the poor [or the Jewish people; L the people] and prayed to God often. 3 ·One afternoon about three o’clock [L About the ninth hour of the day], Cornelius clearly saw a vision. An angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at the angel. He ·became afraid [was terrified] and said, “What do you want, ·Lord [or sir]?”
The angel said, “·God has heard your prayers. He has seen that you give to the poor, and he remembers you [L Your prayers and your alms have gone up to God as a memorial/memorial offering]. 5 Send some men now to Joppa [9:36] to bring back a man named Simon who is also called Peter. 6 He is staying [as a guest] with a man, ·also named Simon, who is a tanner [or named Simon Byrseus; 9:43] and has a house beside the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to Cornelius left, Cornelius called two of his ·servants [household slaves/servants] and a soldier, a ·religious [devout; pious; godly] man who ·worked for him [or was on his staff; or was loyal to him]. 8 Cornelius explained everything to them and sent them to Joppa.
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