Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David; when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
142 I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord;
I make supplication with my voice to the Lord.
2
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my trouble before Him.
3
When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness],
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.
4
Look to the right [the point of attack] and see;
For there is no one who has regard for me [to act in my favor].
Escape has failed me and I have nowhere to run;
No one cares about my life.
5
I cried out to You, O Lord;
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
6
“Give attention to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Rescue me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
7
“Bring my soul out of prison (adversity),
So that I may give thanks and praise Your name;
The righteous will surround me [in triumph],
For You will look after me.”
“Seek Me that You May Live”
5 Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral song, O house of Israel:
2
She has fallen, she will not rise again—
The virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
3
For thus says the Lord God,
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,
“Seek Me [search diligently for Me and regard Me as more essential than food] so that you may live.(A)
5
“But do not resort to Bethel [to worship the golden calf]
Nor enter [idolatrous] Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba [and its idols];
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and exile,
And Bethel will come to nothing.
6
“Seek the Lord [search diligently for Him and long for Him as your most essential need] so that you may live,
Or He will rush down like a [devouring] fire, O [a]house of Joseph,
And there will be no one to quench the flame for [idolatrous] [b]Bethel,
7
“For those [shall be consumed] who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness)
And cast righteousness down to the earth.”
8
He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation] Orion,
Who turns deep darkness into the morning
And darkens the day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The Lord is His name.
9
It is He who causes [sudden] destruction to flash forth on the strong
So that destruction comes on the fortress.
Paul Seized in the Temple
27 When the seven days [required to complete the ritual] were almost over, [some] Jews from [the province of] Asia [Minor], caught sight of him in the temple, and began to stir up the crowd, and they seized him, 28 shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul, and they assumed that he had brought the man into the temple [beyond the court of the Gentiles]. 30 Then the whole city was provoked and confused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were closed. 31 Now while they were trying to kill him, word came to the commander of the [Roman] garrison that all Jerusalem was in a state of upheaval. 32 So he immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down among them. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and arrested Paul, and ordered that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 But some in the crowd were shouting one thing and others something else; and since he could not determine the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken to the barracks [in the tower of Antonia]. 35 When Paul got to the steps, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; 36 for the majority of the people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him! [Kill him!]”
37 Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” And the man replied, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then you are not [as I assumed] the Egyptian who [a]some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led those 4,000 men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39 Paul said, “I am a Jew from [b]Tarsus in Cilicia (Mersin Province, Turkey), a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”
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