Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
73 You made me and formed me with your hands.
Give me understanding so I can learn your commands.
74 Let those who fear you rejoice when they see me
because I put my hope in your word.
75 Lord, I know that your laws are right.
And it was right for you to punish me.
76 Comfort me with your love,
as you promised me, your servant.
77 Have mercy on me so that I may live.
I love your teachings.
78 Make the proud people ashamed because they lied about me.
But I will think about your orders.
79 Let those who fear you come to me.
They know your rules.
80 Let me obey your demands perfectly.
Then I will not be ashamed.
Sin and Punishment
4 “Say to the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord says:
When a man falls down, doesn’t he get up again?
And when a man goes the wrong way, doesn’t he come back again?
5 Why, then, have the people of Judah gone the wrong way?
And why do the people of Jerusalem not turn back?
They believe their own lies.
They refuse to turn around and come back.
6 I have listened to them very carefully.
But they do not say what is right.
They do not feel sorry about their wicked ways.
The people don’t think about the bad things they have done.
Each person goes his own way.
He is like a horse charging into a battle.
7 Even the birds in the sky
know the right times to do things.
The storks, doves, swifts and thrushes
know when it is time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
what the Lord wants them to do!
8 “‘You keep saying, “We are wise.
This is because we have the teachings of the Lord.”
But actually, those who copy the Scriptures
have written lies with their pens.
9 These wise men refused to listen to the word of the Lord.
So they are not really wise at all.
They will be ashamed.
They will be shocked and trapped.
10 So I will give their wives to other men.
I will give their fields to new owners.
Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,
is greedy for money.
Even the prophets and priests
all tell lies.
11 They try to heal my people’s serious injuries
as if they were small wounds.
They say, “It’s all right, it’s all right!”
But really, it is not all right.
12 They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act.
But they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t even know how to blush about their sins.
So they will fall, along with everyone else.
They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them, says the Lord.
13 “‘I will take away their crops, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves will dry up and die.
I will take away what I gave them!’”
28 When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The whole city became confused. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus. (These two men were from Macedonia and were traveling with Paul.) Then all the people ran to the theater. 30 Paul wanted to go in and talk to the crowd, but the followers did not let him. 31 Also, some leaders of Asia were friends of Paul. They sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater. 32 Some people were shouting one thing, and some were shouting another. The meeting was completely confused. Most of the people did not know why they had come together. 33 The Jews put a man named Alexander in front of the people. Some of them had told him what to do. Alexander waved his hand because he wanted to explain things to the people. 34 But when they saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all began shouting the same thing. They continued shouting for two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 Then the city clerk made the crowd be quiet. He said, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis. All people know that we also keep her holy stone[a] that fell from heaven. 36 No one can say that this is not true. So you should be quiet. You must stop and think before you do anything. 37 You brought these men here, but they have not said anything evil against our goddess. They have not stolen anything from her temple. 38 We have courts of law, and there are judges. Do Demetrius and the men who work with him have a charge against anyone? They should go to the courts! That is where they can argue with each other! 39 Is there something else you want to talk about? It can be decided at the regular town meeting of the people. 40 I say this because some people might see this trouble today and say that we are rioting. We could not explain this because there is no real reason for this meeting.” 41 After the city clerk said these things, he told the people to go home.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.