Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

17 Hear what is right, O Lord. Listen to my cry. Hear my prayer, for it does not come from lying lips. ² May You decide in my favor. May Your eyes see what is right. ³ You have tested my heart. You have visited me during the night. You have tested me and have found nothing wrong. I have decided that my mouth will not sin. ⁴ As for the actions of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept myself from the paths of those who want to hurt others. ⁵ My steps have followed Your paths. My feet have not turned from them.

⁶ I have called to You, O God, for You will answer me. Listen to me and hear my words. ⁷ Show Your great loving-kindness. You save by Your right hand the people that come to You for help from those who hate them. ⁸ Keep me safe as You would Your own eye. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings, ⁹ from the sinful who fight against me, those who would kill me and are all around me.

Judah and Tamar

38 Judah went away from his brothers at that time. He visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her as his wife and lived with her. ³ And she was going to have a child and gave birth to a son. He gave him the name Er. ⁴ Then she was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name Onan. ⁵ Then she gave birth to another son at Chezib. And she gave him the name Shelah.

⁶ Judah chose a wife for his first-born son Er. Her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s first-born, was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife. Do your duty as her brother-in-law. Have children for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the children would not be his. So when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground to keep his brother from having children. ¹⁰ What he did was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord took his life also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay in your father’s house as a woman whose husband has died, until my son Shelah is grown.” For he thought, “I am afraid that he also may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² Now after a long time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. And after the time of sorrow, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went to the men who cut the wool from his sheep at Timnah. ¹³ It was told to Tamar, “Your father-in-law is going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she took off the clothes of a woman whose husband has died and put on other clothes and covered her face with cloth. Then she sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown, and she had not been given to him for a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a woman who sold the use of her body. For she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He went to her at the side of the road, and said, “Here now, let me come in to you.” He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me to come in to me?” ¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give something as a promise until you send it?” ¹⁸ He said, “What should I give you as a promise?” And she said, “The ring you use to mark your name, and its string, and the stick that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her. And she was going to have a baby by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and left. She took off the cloth that covered her, and put on the clothes worn by a woman whose husband has died.

²⁰ Judah sent his friend the Adullamite to bring the young goat to the woman and take from her the things he had given as a promise. But he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the men of the place, “Where is the woman who was selling the use of her body beside the road at Enaim?” They said, “There has been no woman selling the use of her body here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her. The men of the place said, ‘There has been no woman selling the use of her body here.’” ²³ Then Judah said, “Let her keep the things, or else we will be laughed at. I sent the young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has sold the use of her body. She is going to have a baby by doing this sinful thing.” Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” ²⁵ When she was brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “I am going to have a baby by the man who owns these things.” She said, “Look and see, who owns this ring for marking a name, and this string and stick?” ²⁶ Judah saw that they belonged to him. He said, “She is more right than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.

Paul Speaks for Himself the First Time

¹⁰ Then Felix, the leader of the people, told Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know that you have been a leader of this nation for many years. I am happy to be able to speak for myself. ¹¹ Not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. You can find out about this yourself. ¹² I did not argue with anyone in the house of God or in the Jewish places of worship or in the city. I was not making trouble. ¹³ They cannot prove any of these things they say against me.

¹⁴ “I will say this, I worship the God of our fathers in the new Way. They say it is a false way. But I believe everything that has been written in the Law and by the early preachers. ¹⁵ I trust God for the same things they are looking for. I am looking for the dead to rise, both those right with God and the sinful. ¹⁶ I always try to live so my own heart tells me I am not guilty before God or man.

¹⁷ “After a few years I came to bring gifts of money to the people of my country (Jerusalem). ¹⁸ Some Jews from the countries of Asia found me in the house of God after I had gone through the worship of washing. There were no people around me and there was no noise or fighting. ¹⁹ They should be here if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or let these men tell what wrong they found in me as I stood in front of their court, ²¹ unless it was the words I cried out as I stood in front of them. I said, ‘I have been brought in front of this court because of the hope of being raised from the dead.’”

Felix Waits for Lysias to Come

²² Felix knew about the Christian religion. He stopped the court, saying, “When Lysias the captain comes down, I will decide about this.” ²³ He told the soldier to watch Paul, but to let him come and go as much as he wanted to. Paul’s friends were to be able to come and care for him.