Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

This is a song that David wrote.

The love of God^[a]

The work of the priests and Levites

¹² Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar that he had built. The altar was outside the entrance of the temple. ¹³ He offered the sacrifices every day that Moses had told them to do. There were rules about sacrifices on Sabbath days, on festivals for each new moon and on the three special festivals each year. Those were the Festival of Flat Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Huts.^{[a] 14} Solomon gave jobs to each group of priests as his father David had commanded. He also gave the Levites their jobs to do each day. They led the music to worship God and they helped the priests with their work. He gave each group of guards a job to watch the gates of the temple. He told them all to do this in the way that God's servant David had commanded. ¹⁵ All the priests and the Levites were careful to do exactly what the king had commanded. That included the rooms where they stored valuable things.

What happened in Thessalonica

17 Paul and his friends continued their journey. They went through the two towns called Amphipolis and Apollonia.^[a] Then they arrived in the city of Thessalonica. There was a Jewish meeting place there. ² Paul went to the meeting place, as he usually did on a Jewish day of rest. On three rest days, he spoke God's message to the people there. He read from the Bible and he explained what it meant. ³ He told the people what was true about God's Messiah. He used the Bible to show them clearly that the Messiah had to suffer and die. He also showed them that the Messiah had to become alive again. Paul said to them, ‘I have been telling you about Jesus. He is the Messiah that God has sent to us.’

⁴ Some of the Jews believed Paul's message. They joined the group with Paul and Silas. A large number of Greek people who now worshipped God also joined this group.^[b] Many important women in the city also believed and they joined the group.

⁵ Some other Jews in the city were jealous of Paul and Silas, because people believed their message. So they went to the city's market place and they found some bad men there. These men often caused trouble in the city. Now the Jews brought these men to come together with them in an angry crowd. This crowd made a lot of noise and trouble in the streets of the city. They went to Jason's house and they broke down his door. They wanted to find Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out of the house to the crowd. ⁶ But they did not find Paul and Silas there. So they took hold of Jason and some other believers. They pulled them out of the house. They made them go and stand in front of the important officers of the city. They shouted, ‘These men have caused much trouble everywhere. Now they have come to our city. ⁷ Jason has let them stay in his house. They speak against the laws that Caesar has given to us. They say that there is another king. This other king is called Jesus.’

⁸ The whole crowd of people and the important officers heard this report about Paul and Silas. They became very angry and upset. ⁹ The officers decided how much money Jason and the other believers should pay to go free. When they received it, they allowed them to go.