Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on flutes.

Jonah Is Angry That the Lord Spares Nineveh

4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong. He became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord. Here is what Jonah said to him. “Lord, isn’t this exactly what I thought would happen when I was still at home? That is what I tried to prevent by running away to Tarshish. I knew that you are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. You are a God who takes pity on people. You don’t want to destroy them. ³ Lord, take away my life. I’d rather die than live.”

⁴ But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah had left the city. He had sat down at a place east of it. There he put some branches over his head. He sat in their shade. He waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God sent a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah. It gave him more shade for his head. It made him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy he had the leafy plant. ⁷ But before sunrise the next day, God sent a worm. It chewed the plant so much that it dried up. ⁸ When the sun rose, God sent a burning east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head. It made him very weak. He wanted to die. So he said, “I’d rather die than live.”

⁹ But God spoke to Jonah. God said, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” Jonah said. “In fact, I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant. But you did not take care of it. You did not make it grow. It grew up in one night and died the next. ¹¹ And shouldn’t I show concern for the great city of Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people. They can’t tell right from wrong. Nineveh also has a lot of animals.”

Philip and the Man From Ethiopia

²⁶ An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. “Go south to the desert road,” he said. “It’s the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” ²⁷ So Philip started out. On his way he met an Ethiopian official. The man had an important position in charge of all the wealth of the Kandake. Kandake means queen of Ethiopia. This official had gone to Jerusalem to worship. ²⁸ On his way home he was sitting in his chariot. He was reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Holy Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot. Stay near it.”

³⁰ So Philip ran up to the chariot. He heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Philip asked.

³¹ “How can I?” he said. “I need someone to explain it to me.” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³² Here is the part of Scripture the official was reading. It says,

³⁴ The official said to Philip, “Tell me, please. Who is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip began with that same part of Scripture. He told him the good news about Jesus.

^36-37 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water. The official said, “Look! Here is water! What can stop me from being baptized?” ³⁸ He gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the water. Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The official did not see him again. He went on his way full of joy. ⁴⁰ Philip was seen next at Azotus. From there he traveled all around. He preached the good news in all the towns. Finally he arrived in Caesarea.