Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Yod
Prayer for God’s Grace
73 Your hands made and formed me;
give me understanding,
that I may learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you see me and be glad,
for I have hoped in your word.
75 I know, Lord, that your decrees are just,
and that you have rightfully humbled me.
76 May your gracious love comfort me
in accordance with your promise to your servant.
77 May your mercies come to me that I may live,
for your instruction[a] is my delight.
78 May the arrogant become ashamed,
because they have subverted me with deceit;
as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 May those who fear you turn to me,
along with those who know your decrees.
80 May my heart be blameless with respect to your statutes
so that I may not become ashamed.
A Stubborn People
4 “You are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“Will a person fall down and then not get up?
Will someone turn away[a] and then not turn back again?[b]
5 Why has this people turned away?[c]
Why does Jerusalem continue in apostasy?
They hold on to deceit and refuse to repent.
6 I’ve listened and I’ve heard,
and what they say is not right.
No one repents of his evil and says,
‘What have I done?’
“They all turn to their own course
like a horse racing into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons,
and the dove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time for migration.
But my people don’t know
the requirements[d] of the Lord.
8 How can you say, ‘We’re wise,
and the Law of the Lord is with us,’
when, in fact, the deceitful pen of the scribe has made it
into something that deceives.
9 The wise men will be put to shame.
They’ll be dismayed and taken captive.
Look, they have rejected the message from the Lord!
So what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore, I’ll give their wives to others,
and their fields to new owners.
Indeed, from the least important to the most important,
they’re all greedy for dishonest gain.
From prophet to priest,
they all act deceitfully.
11 They have treated my people’s[e] wound
superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed because they have done
what is repugnant to God?[f]
They weren’t ashamed at all;
they don’t even know how to blush!
Therefore they’ll fall with those who fall.
When I punish them, they’ll be brought down,”
says the Lord.
13 “I would have gathered them,”
declares the Lord,
“but there were no grapes on the vine,
and no figs on the fig tree,
and their leaves were withered.
What I’ve given them has been taken away.”’”
28 When they heard this, they became furious and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with confusion, and the people[a] rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s fellow travelers from Macedonia. 30 Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. 31 Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater.
32 Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, since the crowd was confused, and most of them didn’t know why they were meeting. 33 Some of the crowd concluded it was because of Alexander, since the Jews had pushed him to the front. So Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they found out that he was a Jew, they all started to shout in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who in the world[b] doesn’t know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?[c] 36 Since these things cannot be denied, you must be quiet and not do anything reckless. 37 For you have brought these men here, although they neither rob temples nor blaspheme our[d] goddess. 38 So if Demetrius and his workers have a charge against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They should accuse one another there. 39 But if you want anything else, it must be settled in the regular assembly, 40 because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.
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