Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the director: A song of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in times of trouble.
May the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from his Holy Place.
May he support you from Zion.
3 May he remember all the gifts you have offered.
May he accept all your sacrifices. Selah
4 May he give you what you really want.
May he make all your plans successful.
5 We will celebrate when he helps you.
We will praise the name of God.
May the Lord give you everything you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord helps his chosen king.
From his holy heaven he answered.
With his great power he saved him.
7 Some give the credit for victory to their chariots and soldiers,
but we honor the Lord our God.
8 They fall in battle, totally defeated,
but we survive and stand strong!
9 Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call to you for help.
Moses Sets Up the Holy Tent
40 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “On the first day of the first month, set up the Holy Tent, that is, the Meeting Tent. 3 Put the Box of the Agreement in the Holy Tent. Cover the Box with the curtain. 4 Then bring in the table. Put the things on the table that should be there. Then put the lampstand in the Tent. Put the lamps on the lampstand in the right places. 5 Put the golden altar for offering incense in the Tent in front of the Box of the Agreement. Then put the curtain at the entrance to the Holy Tent.
6 “Put the altar for burning offerings in front of the entrance of the Holy Tent, that is, the Meeting Tent. 7 Put the bowl between the Meeting Tent and the altar. Put water in the bowl. 8 Set up the wall of curtains around the courtyard. Then put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.
9 “Use the anointing oil and anoint the Holy Tent and everything in it. When you put the oil on these things, you will make them holy. 10 Anoint the altar for burning offerings. Anoint everything on the altar. You will make the altar holy. It will be very holy. 11 Then anoint the bowl and the base under it to make these things holy.
12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Wash them with water. 13 Then put the special clothes on Aaron. Anoint him with the oil and make him holy. Then he can serve me as a priest. 14 Then put the clothes on his sons. 15 Anoint the sons in the same way you anointed their father. Then they can also serve me as priests. When you anoint them, they will become priests. That family will continue to be priests for all time to come.”
Come Near to God
19 And so, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place.[a] We can do this without fear because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. 20 We enter through a new way that Jesus opened for us. It is a living way that leads through the curtain—Christ’s body. 21 And we have a great priest who rules the house of God. 22 Sprinkled with the blood of Christ, our hearts have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. So come near to God with a sincere heart, full of confidence because of our faith in Christ. 23 We must hold on to the hope we have, never hesitating to tell people about it. We can trust God to do what he promised.
Help Each Other Be Strong
24 We should think about each other to see how we can encourage each other to show love and do good works. 25 We must not quit meeting together, as some are doing. No, we need to keep on encouraging each other. This becomes more and more important as you see the Day getting closer.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International