Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
YOD י
73 Your hands have made me and formed me.
Give me understanding that I may learn Your mitzvot.
74 Those in awe of You see me and rejoice,
because I put my hope in Your word.
75 I know, Adonai, Your judgments are just.
In faithfulness You have afflicted me.
76 May Your lovingkindness comfort me,
according to Your promise to Your servant.
77 Let Your tender mercies reach me,
Let me live, for Your Torah is my delight.
78 May the proud be put to shame
for wronging me with a lie,
but I will meditate on Your precepts.
79 Let those in awe of You return to me—
those who know Your testimonies.
80 My heart will have integrity in following Your decrees,
so that I would not be ashamed.
Each Turns His Own Way
4 Moreover you will say to them, thus says Adonai:
“Do men fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not return?
5 Why then has this people—Jerusalem—
turned away in perpetual backsliding?
They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 I listened attentively,
but they have not spoken what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Each one turns in his own direction,
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed times,
and the turtledove, swallow and crane
observe the time of their migration,
but My people do not know
the judgments of Adonai.
8 How can you say, ‘We are wise!
The Torah of Adonai is with us’?
In fact, it is the lying pen of the scribes
that have made it a lie.
9 The wise men will be put to shame—
shattered, trapped.
Look! They have rejected Adonai’s word,
so what wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to new owners.
For from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for gain.
From the prophet even to the kohen
everyone practices deceit.
11 They heal the fracture of the daughter of My people
by treating it superficially—
saying, ‘Shalom, shalom,’
when there is no shalom.
12 Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed?
No, not ashamed, not at all—
they do not know how to blush!
So they will fall among the fallen.
At the time of their punishment
they will be brought down.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “I will utterly consume them,” says Adonai.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
and no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither,
and what I gave them will pass away.”
28 When they heard, they were filled with fury and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with confusion. They rushed into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were travel companions of Paul. 30 Paul was wishing to enter among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Some of the chiefs of Asia,[a] being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to surrender himself in the theater.
32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd solicited Alexander, whom the Jewish people put forward. Alexander motioned with his hand. He wished to offer a defense to the crowd. 34 But recognizing that he was Jewish, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 After the town clerk quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of her image fallen from heaven? 36 Since these things are undeniable, you must be calm and do nothing reckless. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor revilers of our goddess. 38 If Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them accuse them. 39 But if you seek anything further, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. 40 For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no reason which we are able to give to justify this mob.” Upon saying this, he dismissed the assembly.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.