Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

For the choir director. For ^[a]the flutes. A Psalm of David.

Nehemiah Prays for the Sons of Israel

1 The words of ^(A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in ^(B)the month Chislev, ^(C)in the twentieth year—and I was in ^(D)Susa the ^[a]capitol— ² that ^(E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and ^[b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ They said to me, “The remnant there in the ^(F)province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and ^(G)reproach, and ^(H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and ^(I)its gates are burned with fire.”

⁴ Now it happened that when I heard these words, ^(J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before ^(K)the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “I beseech You, O ^[c]Yahweh, the God of heaven, ^(L)the great and fearsome God, ^(M)who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ^6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your slave which I am praying before You today, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your slaves, ^(O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; ^(P)I and my father’s house have sinned. ^7 (Q)We have worked in utter destruction against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments ^(R)which You commanded Your ^[d]servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word which You commanded Your ^[e]servant Moses, saying, ‘^(S)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; ^9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been banished were at the ends of the sky, I ^(U)will gather them from there and will bring them ^(V)to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ ^10 (W)They are Your slaves and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, I beseech You, ^(X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your slave and the prayer of Your slaves who delight to fear Your name, and make Your slave successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”

Now I was the ^(Y)cupbearer to the king.

The Lame Beggar Healed

3 Now ^(A)Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ^[a]ninth hour, ^(B)the hour of prayer. ² And ^(C)a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they ^(D)used to set down daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, ^(E)in order to beg ^[b]alms of those who were entering the temple. ³ When he saw ^(F)Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. ⁴ But when Peter, along with John, ^(G)fixed his gaze on him, he said, “Look at us!” ⁵ And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: ^(H)In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” ⁷ And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. ^8 (I)And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹ And ^(J)all the people saw him walking and praising God; ¹⁰ and they were recognizing him, that he was the one who used to ^(K)sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.