Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Yod: Those Who Fear You
73 Your hands made me and established me.
Give me understanding.
Then I will learn your commandments.
74 May those who fear you see me and rejoice,
because I wait confidently for your word.
75 I know, Lord, that your judgments are righteous.
In faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 Please let your mercy be my comfort,
according to your saying to your servant.
77 Let your abundant compassion come to me that I may live,
because your law is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with lies.
As for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me,
and those who know your testimonies.
80 Let my heart be blameless regarding your statutes,
so that I may not be put to shame.
10 Who can I speak to?
Who will listen to my warning?[a]
Look! Their ears are uncircumcised.
They will not be able to hear.
Indeed, to them the word of the Lord is an embarrassment.
They take no pleasure in it.
11 I am full of the Lord’s wrath,[b]
and I cannot hold it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together.
Both husband and wife will be taken,
the old along with the very old.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
because I will stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,
declares the Lord.
13 From the least of them to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophets to priests, they all practice deceit.
14 They have treated the wound of my people as if it were nothing serious.
They say, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace!
15 Are they ashamed of the detestable things they have done?
No, they are not ashamed at all!
They do not know how to be ashamed.
So they will fall with the fallen.
They will be thrown down when I punish them, says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says.
Stand at the crossroads and look.
Ask about the ancient paths.
Ask where the good road is.
Walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, “We will not walk in it.”
17 I set watchmen over you and said,
“Listen to the sound of the ram’s horn!”
But you said, “We will not listen.”
18 Therefore, listen, you nations!
You witnesses, observe what will happen to them.
19 Listen, O earth.
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words,
and they have rejected my law.
21 After all this had happened, Paul resolved in his spirit[a] to go to Jerusalem by traveling through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must also see Rome.” 22 After sending two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he stayed in the province of Asia for a while.
The Riot in Ephesus
23 During that time there was more than a minor disturbance about the Way. 24 A certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little income for the craftsmen. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this income. 26 You also see and hear that not merely in Ephesus but throughout almost the entire province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large number of people. He says that gods made by hands are not gods at all! 27 Not only is there danger that our trade may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be considered worthless. Then she will suffer the loss of her magnificence, although she is worshipped by the whole province of Asia and the world.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.