Psalm 71:1-6

English Standard Version

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

71 ^(A)In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame!
²In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
    incline your ear to me, and save me!
³Be to me a rock of ^(B)refuge,
    to which I may continually come;
you have ^(C)given the command to save me,
    for you are my ^(D)rock and my fortress.

⁴^(E)Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
⁵For you, O Lord, are my ^(F)hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
⁶Upon you I have leaned ^(G)from before my birth;
    you are he who ^(H)took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

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Jeremiah 6:20-30

English Standard Version

²⁰^(A)What use to me is ^(B)frankincense that comes from ^(C)Sheba,
    or sweet cane from a distant land?
^(D)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
    nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
²¹Therefore thus says the Lord:
^(E)‘Behold, I will lay before this people
    stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
    neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

²²Thus says the Lord:
^(F)“Behold, a people is coming ^(G)from the north country,
    a great nation is stirring from ^(H)the farthest parts of the earth.
²³They lay hold on bow and javelin;
    they are ^(I)cruel and have no mercy;
    ^(J)the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
    set in array as a man for battle,
    against you, O daughter of Zion!”
²⁴We have heard the report of it;
    ^(K)our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
    ^(L)pain as of a woman in labor.
²⁵Go not out into the field,
    nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
    ^(M)terror is on every side.
²⁶O daughter of my people, ^(N)put on sackcloth,
    and ^(O)roll in ashes;
^(P)make mourning as for an only son,
    most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
    will come upon us.

²⁷“I have made you ^(Q)a tester of metals among my people,
    that you may know and ^(R)test their ways.
²⁸^(S)They are all stubbornly rebellious,
    ^(T)going about with slanders;
they are ^(U)bronze and iron;
    all of them act corruptly.
²⁹The ^(V)bellows blow fiercely;
    the lead is consumed by the fire;
^(W)in vain the refining goes on,
    for the wicked are not removed.
³⁰^(X)Rejected silver they are called,
    for the Lord has rejected them.”

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Acts 17:1-9

English Standard Version

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(A)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ²And Paul went in, ^(B)as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them ^(C)from the Scriptures, ³^(D)explaining and proving that it was necessary for ^(E)the Christ to suffer and ^(F)to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ⁴And ^(G)some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did ^(H)a great many of the devout ^(I)Greeks and not a few of the leading women. ⁵^(J)But the Jews^[a] ^(K)were jealous, and taking ^(L)some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶And when they could not find them, ^(M)they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^(N)the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^(O)another king, Jesus.” ⁸And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.