Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Faithfulness in Israel’s History
A maskil of Asaph.[a]
78 Listen, O my people, to my teaching.
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will offer[b] a parable with my mouth.
I will pour out riddles from long ago,
3 that we have heard and known,
and our ancestors[c] have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,[d]
telling the next generation the praises of Yahweh,
and his power and his wonders that he has done.
52 Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them like a herd in the wilderness.
53 And he led them safely and they were not afraid,
but the sea covered their enemies.
54 So he brought them to his holy territory,[a]
this mountain his right hand acquired.[b]
55 And he drove out nations before them
and allocated them for an inheritance by boundary line,
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 But they tested and rebelled against God Most High
and did not keep his statutes.
57 And they turned and were treacherous like their ancestors.[c]
They twisted like a crooked[d] bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
and made him jealous with their images.
59 God heard and he was very angry
and rejected Israel utterly.
60 So he abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh,
the tent he had placed among humankind.
61 And he gave his strength into captivity
and his splendor into the hand of the enemy.
62 He also handed his people over to the sword,
and he was very angry with his inheritance.
63 Fire devoured his young men,
and his young women[e] were not praised.
64 His priests fell by the sword,
and his widows did not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke like one who had been asleep,
awoke like a warrior who had been drunk with wine.[f]
66 And he beat back his enemies;
he gave them over to perpetual scorn.
67 And he rejected the tent of Joseph,
and did not chose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion[g] that he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 And he chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 He brought him from following nursing ewes
to shepherd Jacob, his people,
and Israel, his inheritance.
72 And he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
and led them by the skillfulness of his hands.
27 And on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they did not find any. 28 And Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you[a] refuse to keep my commands and my laws? 29 See, because Yahweh has given to you the Sabbath, therefore he is giving to you on the sixth day bread for two days. Stay, each in his location;[b] let no one go from his place on the seventh day.” 30 And the people rested on the seventh day.
31 And the house of Israel called its name “manna.” And it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like a wafer with honey. 32 And Moses said, “This is the word that Yahweh has commanded. ‘A full omer of it is for safekeeping for your generations so that they will see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you from the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take one jar and put there a full omer of manna. Leave it before Yahweh for safekeeping for your generations.” 34 As Yahweh had commanded Moses, so Aaron left it before the testimony for safekeeping. 35 And the Israelites[c] ate the manna forty years, until their coming to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until their coming to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (And an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
The Jerusalem Council
15 And some men came down from Judea and[a] began teaching[b] the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after[c] there was no little strife and debate by Paul and Barnabas against them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this issue. 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and[d] passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, telling in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers. 4 And when they[e] arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of those who had believed from the party of the Pharisees stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them[f] to observe the law of Moses!”
The Letter from the Council
22 Then it seemed best to the apostles and the elders, together with the whole church, to send men chosen from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas who was called Barsabbas and Silas, men who were leaders among the brothers— 23 writing this letter[a] to be delivered by them:[b]
The apostles and the elders, brothers.
To the brothers who are from among the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
Greetings!
24 Because we have heard that some have gone out from among us—to whom we gave no orders—and[c] have thrown you into confusion by words upsetting your minds,[d] 25 it seemed best to us, having reached a unanimous decision,[e] and[f] having chosen men, to send them[g] to you together with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives on behalf of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, and they will report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us to place on you no greater burden except these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from food sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you[h] keep yourselves from these things[i] you will do well.
Farewell.
The Letter Is Delivered to Antioch
30 So when[j] they were sent off, they came down to Antioch, and after[k] calling together the community, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they[l] read it[m] aloud, they rejoiced at the encouragement. 32 Both Judas and Silas, who were also prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers by a long message. 33 And after[n] spending some time, they were sent away in peace from the brothers to those who had sent them.[o] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord with many others also.
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