Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This psalm is a song for the music leader. He is to use stringed instruments.
All the nations should praise God[a]
67 God, please be kind to us and bless us.
Look at us with a smile on your face.
Selah.
2 Then people on the earth will know
what pleases you.
People from all nations will know
that you have the power to save them.
3 May people everywhere praise you, God.
Yes, may they all praise you!
4 May the nations be so happy
that they sing aloud with joy!
Because you are fair when you judge people,
and you are a guide for all the nations of the world.
Selah.
5 May people everywhere praise you, God.
Yes, may they all praise you!
6 The land has given us a harvest of food,
and God, our God, continues to bless us.
7 God, please bless us!
Then all people everywhere will respect you.
15 So now, do something to help us! Look down from your beautiful, holy home in heaven. Use your power to show that we are your special people. Have you forgotten how to be kind to us?
16 Remember that you are our Father. Maybe our ancestor Abraham does not recognize us. Even Israel himself may not recognize us. But you, Lord, are our Father. Since times long ago, your name has been our Redeemer.
17 Lord, why do you cause us to turn away from your ways? You make our minds become hard, so that we do not obey you. Please come back to help us, because we are your servants. We are the tribes that you have chosen for yourself!
18 For only a short time, the holy place belonged to us, your special people. Then our enemies knocked down your temple. 19 It seems that we have not belonged to you for a long time. You no longer rule over us or take care of us.
19 Then some Jews arrived there in Lystra. They had travelled from Antioch and from Iconium. They talked to the people, so that they turned against Paul. Then these Jews threw stones at Paul to kill him. They pulled his body to outside the town. They thought that he was dead. 20 But some believers came out from the town and they stood around Paul. Then Paul stood up! He went back with them into the town.
Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch in Syria
The next day, Paul and Barnabas left Lystra and they went to Derbe. 21 While they were there, they told people the good news about Jesus. Many people in Derbe became believers. After that, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra. From there they went back to Iconium. Then they returned to Antioch in the region of Pisidia. 22 In all these towns, they taught the believers to be strong. They said to them, ‘Continue to trust in the Lord Jesus! All believers will have trouble at different times. That will continue to happen in our lives. But one day we will go into the kingdom of God where he rules.’
23 Paul and Barnabas chose leaders for each group of believers in these places. They fasted and they prayed to God for some time about this. They asked the Lord Jesus to help these leaders who trusted in him.
24 Then Paul and Barnabas travelled through Pisidia. They arrived in Pamphylia. 25 They spoke God's message to the people in Perga. Then they went down to the coast, to the town of Attalia.
26 From there they went in a ship back to Antioch. That was the place where the believers had chosen them to do God's work. They had asked God to help Paul and Barnabas in this work. Now Paul and Barnabas had finished this work and they had returned home. 27 When they arrived, they sent a message to the group of believers in Antioch. When all the believers had come together, Paul and Barnabas told them about their journey. They told the believers about everything that God had helped them to do. They said, ‘God has made it possible now for Gentiles to believe in Jesus.’
28 Paul and Barnabas stayed there with the believers in Antioch for a long time.
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