Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book 5: Psalms 107–150
God Saves from Many Dangers
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His ·love [loyalty] continues forever.
2 That is what those whom the Lord has ·saved [redeemed] should say.
He has ·saved [redeemed] them from the ·enemy [foe]
3 and has gathered them from other lands,
from east and west, north and south [Is. 51:11; C perhaps after the Babylonian exile].
23 Others went out to sea in ships
and did ·business [work] on the ·great oceans [L many waters].
24 They saw what the Lord could do,
the ·miracles [worderful works] he did in the deep oceans.
25 He spoke, and a ·storm [L stormy wind] ·came [L stood] up,
which ·blew [raised] up high waves.
26 ·The ships [L They] ·were tossed as high as [L went up to] the ·sky [heavens] and fell low to the depths.
·The storm was so bad that they lost their courage [L Their life/soul melted in evil/trouble].
27 They ·stumbled [reeled; leapt] and ·fell [tottered; staggered] like people who were drunk.
·They did not know what to do [L All their wisdom was confused].
28 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved [L brought them out] them from their troubles [vv. 6, 13, 19].
29 He ·stilled [quieted] the storm
and ·calmed [hushed] the waves.
30 They were happy that it was quiet,
and God guided them to the ·port [harbor] they wanted.
31 Let them ·give thanks to [praise] the Lord for his ·love [loyalty]
and for the ·miracles [wonderful works] he does for people [vv. 8, 15, 21].
32 Let them ·praise his greatness [exalt him] in the ·meeting [assembly] of the people;
let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
21 “People listened to me carefully
and waited ·quietly [silently] for my advice.
22 After I finished speaking, they spoke no more.
My words ·fell [L dripped] very gently on their ears.
23 They waited for me as they would for rain
and ·drank in my words like [L opened their mouth for] spring rain.
24 I smiled at them when they ·doubted [L had no confidence],
and ·my approval was important to them [L they did not frown at the light of my countenance].
25 I chose the way for them and ·was their leader [L sat as their chief].
I lived like a king among his army,
like a person who comforts ·sad [mourning] people.
30 “But now those who are younger than I
·make fun of [laugh at] me.
I would ·not have even [L have disdained to] let their fathers
sit with my sheep dogs.
2 What use did I have for their strength
since they had lost their ·strength [vigor] to work [C vv. 2–8 describe the young men who torment Job]?
3 They were thin from hunger
and ·wandered the dry and ruined land at night [or they gnawed the desert on the brink of desolation and destruction].
4 They ·gathered desert plants [plucked mallow] among the brush
and ·ate [or warmed themselves on] the root of the broom tree.
5 They were ·forced to live away [driven out] from people;
people shouted at them as if they were thieves.
6 They lived ·in dried-up streambeds [on the slopes of the wadis],
in ·caves, and among the rocks [dusty and rocky holes].
7 They howled like animals among the bushes
and huddled together ·in [or under] the brush.
8 They are ·worthless people without names [disreputable children of fools]
and were ·forced to leave the land [L whipped off the land/earth].
9 “Now ·they make fun of me with songs [I am the object of their melodious taunts];
my name is a ·joke [byword] among them.
10 They hate me and ·stay far away [keep their distance] from me,
but they do not mind spitting in my face.
11 God has ·taken away my strength [L loosened my bowstring] and ·made me suffer [humiliated me],
so they ·attack me with all their anger [L have removed all restraint before me].
12 On my right side they rise up like a mob.
They ·lay traps for my feet [L take my feet out from under me]
and ·prepare to attack me [L build up paths for my calamity].
13 They ·break [tear] up my road
and ·work to destroy me [or they profit from my ruin],
and ·no one helps me [or they need no help].
14 They come at me as if through a ·hole in the wall [wide breech],
and they roll in among the ruins.
15 Great fears ·overwhelm [or transform] me.
They blow my honor away as if by a great wind,
and my ·safety [or hope of rescue] disappears like a cloud.
Paul Goes to Jerusalem
21 After we ·all said good-bye to [tore ourselves away from] them, we sailed ·straight [a straight course] to the island of Cos [C between Ephesus and Rhodes]. The next day we reached Rhodes [C an island off the southwest Coast of Asia Minor], and from there we went to Patara [C a seaport on the southwest coast of Asia Minor]. 2 There we found a ship ·going [crossing over] to Phoenicia [C a coastal region north of Israel; present-day Lebanon], so we went aboard and sailed away. 3 We sailed near the island of Cyprus [11:19], ·seeing [L leaving] it to the ·north [L left], but we sailed on to Syria. We ·stopped [landed] at Tyre [12:20] because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. 4 We ·found [sought out] some ·followers [disciples] in Tyre and stayed with them for seven days. Through the ·Holy Spirit [L Spirit] they ·warned [or kept warning] Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5 When ·we finished our visit [L our days there were finished], we left and continued our trip. All ·the followers [L of them], even the women and children, came outside the city with us. After we all knelt on the beach and prayed, 6 we said good-bye and got on the ship, and ·the followers [L they] went back home.
7 We ·continued [or finished] our trip from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais [C a town on the Mediterranean coast about half way between Tyre and Caesarea, also known as Acco], where we greeted the ·believers [L brothers (and sisters)] and stayed with them for a day. 8 The next day we left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea [10:1]. There we went into the home of Philip the ·preacher [or evangelist], one of the ·seven helpers [L Seven; 6:1–6; 8:4–40], and stayed with him. 9 He had four ·unmarried [L virgin] daughters who ·had the gift of prophesying [L prophesied]. 10 After we had been there for ·some time [L many days], a prophet named Agabus [11:27–28] ·arrived [L came down] from Judea. 11 He came to us and ·borrowed [took] Paul’s belt and used it to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will ·tie up [or bind (in chains)] the man ·who wears this belt [L whose belt this is]. Then they will ·give [deliver; hand over; betray] him to the Gentiles.’”
12 When we all heard this, we and the people there ·begged [encouraged; urged; pleaded with] Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13 But he ·said [L responded], “Why are you crying and ·making me so sad [L breaking my heart]? I am not only ready to be ·tied up [or bound; imprisoned] in Jerusalem, I am ready to die for the [L name of the] Lord Jesus!”
14 We could not ·persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem [L persuade/convince him]. So we ·stopped begging him [L remained silent] and said, “·We pray that what the Lord wants will [L Let the Lord’s will] be done.”
15 After ·this [L these days], we ·got ready [made preparations; packed our bags] and ·started on our way [L went up] to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the ·followers [disciples] from Caesarea went with us and took us to the home of Mnason, where we would stay. He was from Cyprus and was one of the ·first [or early; or original] ·followers [disciples].
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