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.
4 You are to tell them that this is what the Lord says:
Do people fall and not get up again?
If a person turns away, doesn’t he turn back again?
5 Then why has this people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They hang on to deception
and refuse to let it go.
6 I have paid attention and listened,
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness.
No one asks, “What have I done?”
Everyone pursues his own course,
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons.
The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush[a]
observe the right time for their migration.
But my people do not recognize
the just judgments of the Lord.
8 How can you say, “We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us,”
when in reality the lying pen of the scribes
has changed it into a lie?
9 Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be shattered and captured.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners,
because, from the least to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophet to priest, everyone practices deceit.
11 They dress the wound of the daughter of my people[b]
as if it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed when they do such a detestable thing?
No, they have no shame at all.
They do not even know how to blush.
That is why they will fall among the fallen.
They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.
13 I will take away their harvest,[c] declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the fig tree,
and the leaves will wither.
What I have given them will be taken away from them.
28 When they heard this, they were filled with rage and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with confusion, and with one goal in mind they rushed to the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. 30 Paul wanted to enter the public assembly, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
32 Some were shouting one thing, others another, because the assembly was in confusion. Most of them did not even know why they had come together. 33 They made Alexander come out of the crowd.[a] It was the Jews who pushed him forward. Alexander motioned with his hand and wanted to make his defense to the assembly. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry rose from all of them. For about two hours, they kept shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 After the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image that fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you need to be quiet and not do anything rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our[b] goddess. 38 If Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another. 39 If you want to pursue something about other matters,[c] it should be settled in the legal assembly. 40 For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, because we will not be able to give any reason for this disorderly mob.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.