Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your miracles
and for your loyalty in the meeting of your holy ones.
6 Who in heaven is equal to the Lord?
None of the angels is like the Lord.
7 When the holy ones meet, it is God they fear.
He is more frightening than all who surround him.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, who is like you?
Lord, you are powerful and completely trustworthy.
9 You rule the mighty sea
and calm the stormy waves.
10 You crushed the sea monster Rahab;
by your power you scattered your enemies.
11 The skies and the earth belong to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created the north and the south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm has great power.
Your hand is strong; your right hand is lifted up.
14 Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
Love and truth are in all you do.
15 Happy are the people who know how to praise you.
Lord, let them live in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice
and continually praise your goodness.
17 You are their glorious strength,
and in your kindness you honor our king.
18 Our king, our shield, belongs to the Lord,
to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Once, in a vision, you spoke
to those who worship you.
You said, “I have given strength to a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from my people.
20 I have found my servant David;
I appointed him by pouring holy oil on him.
21 I will steady him with my hand
and strengthen him with my arm.
22 No enemy will make him give forced payments,
and wicked people will not defeat him.
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him;
I will defeat those who hate him.
24 My loyalty and love will be with him.
Through me he will be strong.
25 I will give him power over the sea
and control over the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my Savior.’
27 I will make him my firstborn son,
the greatest king on earth.
28 My love will watch over him forever,
and my agreement with him will never end.
29 I will make his family continue,
and his kingdom will last as long as the skies.
30 “If his descendants reject my teachings
and do not follow my laws,
31 if they ignore my demands
and disobey my commands,
32 then I will punish their sins with a rod
and their wrongs with a whip.
33 But I will not hold back my love from David,
nor will I stop being loyal.
34 I will not break my agreement
nor change what I have said.
35 I have promised by my holiness,
I will not lie to David.
36 His family will go on forever.
His kingdom will last before me like the sun.
37 It will continue forever, like the moon,
like a dependable witness in the sky.” Selah
Jacob in Bethel
35 God said to Jacob, “Go to the city of Bethel and live there. Make an altar to the God who appeared to you there when you were running away from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods you have, and make yourselves clean, and change your clothes. 3 We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God, who has helped me during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and the earrings they were wearing, and he hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem. 5 Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid, so they did not follow them. 6 And Jacob and all the people who were with him went to Luz, which is now called Bethel, in the land of Canaan. 7 There Jacob built an altar and named the place Bethel, after God, because God had appeared to him there when he was running from his brother.
8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak tree at Bethel, so they named that place Oak of Crying.
Jacob’s New Name
9 When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel. 11 God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings. 12 The same land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you and your descendants.” 13 Then God left him. 14 Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him, and he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God. 15 And Jacob named the place Bethel.
44 While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been given even to the nations. 46 These believers heard them speaking in different languages[a] and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we did!” 48 So Peter ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.