Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ ¶ O LORD God of the hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.

⁹ Behold, O God our shield and look upon the face of thine anointed,

¹⁰ for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand outside of them. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield unto us; the LORD will give grace and glory; he will not withhold good from those that walk uprightly.

¹² O LORD of the hosts, happy is the man that trusts in thee.

5 ¶ Belshazzar the king made a great banquet to a thousand of his lords, and against the thousand he drank wine.

² Belshazzar, under the influence of the wine, commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and of silver which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the temple of Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink with them.

³ Then they brought the vessels of gold that they had brought from the temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank with them.

⁴ They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

⁵ In that same hour some fingers of a man’s hand came forth and wrote in front of the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote.

⁶ Then the king became pale, and his thoughts troubled him, and the girdings of his loins were unloosed, and his knees smote one against another.

⁷ The king cried in a loud voice that they bring in the magicians, the Chaldeans, and the fortune-tellers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing and show me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king its interpretation.

⁹ Then king Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his colour was changed, and his princes were upset.

¹⁰ ¶ Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and of his princes, came into the banquet room. The queen spoke and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be pale.

¹¹ There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom lives the spirit of the holy God; and in the days of thy father light and intelligence and wisdom, like the knowledge of God, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, made prince over all the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and fortune-tellers; thus did thy father, the king,

¹² because Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have a more excellent spirit and greater knowledge and understanding interpreting dreams, unraveling questions, and dissolving doubts. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show thee the interpretation.

5 ¶ The elders who are among you I exhort (I am also an elder with them and a witness of the afflictions of the Christ, and also a participant of the glory that shall be revealed).

² Feed the flock of God which is among you, caring for her, not by force, but willingly; not for shameful lucre, but with willing desire;

³ and not as having lordship over the heritage of the Lord, but in such a manner as to be examples of the flock.

⁴ And when the great Prince of the pastors shall appear, ye shall receive the incorruptible crown of glory.

⁵ ¶ Likewise, young people, be subject to the elders in such a manner that you are all subject to one another. Be clothed with humility of will, for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time,

⁷ casting all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.

⁸ ¶ Be temperate and vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour,

⁹ resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are to be accomplished in the company of your brethren that are in the world.

¹⁰ ¶ But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus, the Christ, after ye have suffered a little while, he himself perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes you.

¹¹ To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.