Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Help
142 I cry with a loud voice to the Lord. I pray with my voice to the Lord. 2 I talk and complain to Him. I tell Him all my trouble. 3 When my spirit had grown weak within me, You knew my path. They have hidden a trap for me in the way where I walk. 4 Look to the right and see. For there is no one who thinks about me. There is no place for me to go to be safe. No one cares about my soul.
5 I cried out to You, O Lord. I said, “You are my safe place, my share in the land of the living. 6 Listen to my cry, for I am brought down. Save me from those who make it hard for me. For they are too strong for me. 7 Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name. Those who are right and good will gather around me. For You will give much to me.”
A Call to Turn from Sin
5 Hear this word, O people of Israel, this song of sorrow which I sing for you: 2 “The young pure woman Israel has fallen, and she will not rise again. She is left alone on her land. There is no one to raise her up.” 3 For the Lord God says, “The city of Israel that sends out a thousand soldiers will have a hundred left. And the one that sends out a hundred will have ten left.”
4 The Lord says to the people of Israel, “Look for Me and live. 5 But do not look for Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be taken away to a strange land, and Bethel will come to nothing.” 6 Look for the Lord and live, or He will break out like fire in the family of Joseph. It will destroy, and no one in Bethel will be able to stop it. 7 You turn what is right into something bitter. You throw what is right and good down to the earth.
8 The Lord made the stars of Pleiades and Orion. He changes darkness into morning, and turns day into night. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth. The Lord is His name. 9 He destroys the strong, so that the strong city is laid waste.
27 The seven days were almost finished. Jews from the countries of Asia saw Paul in the house of God. They made the people turn against him. Then they took hold of him. 28 They cried out, “You who are Jews, help us! This is the man who is teaching against our people and our Law and this house of God. Also he has brought Greek people into the house of God. This has made this holy place unclean.” 29 They had seen him before in the city with Trophimus who was from the city of Ephesus. They thought Paul had brought him into the house of God also.
30 All the people in the city were crying out with loud voices. The people pushed and moved together. They took Paul and dragged him out of the house of God. Then the doors were shut. 31 They were getting ready to kill him. The captain of the soldiers heard there was trouble over all Jerusalem. 32 At once the captain called his soldiers and they ran down to the people. When the people saw the captain and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
Paul Is Tied with Chains
33 The captain came and took hold of Paul. He told his soldiers to tie Paul with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some of the people called out one thing and some another. The captain was not able to find out what had happened. He told his men to take Paul into the soldiers’ building. 35 The people cried out so loud and pushed so hard that Paul had to be carried up the steps by the soldiers. 36 All the people kept pushing and calling out, “Kill him!”
37 Paul was brought into the soldiers’ building. He said to the captain, “May I say something to you?” The captain said, “Can you speak the Greek language? 38 Are you not the man from the country of Egypt who made trouble against our country? That man led 4,000 fighting men into the desert.” 39 Paul said, “No! I am a Jew and a citizen of a large city. I am from Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I ask you to let me speak to the people.”
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