Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 (A)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 (B)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(C)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [a]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [b]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (A)drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
Jeremiah Persecuted
18 Then they said, (A)“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; (B)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
19 Give heed to me, O Lord,
And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!
20 (C)Shall evil be repaid for good?
For they have (D)dug a pit for my life.
Remember that I (E)stood before You
To speak good [a]for them,
To turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (F)deliver up their children to the famine,
And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword;
Let their wives become widows
And (G)bereaved of their children.
Let their men be put to death,
Their young men be slain
By the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
For they have dug a pit to take me,
And hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
(H)Provide no atonement for their iniquity,
Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
But let them be overthrown before You.
Deal thus with them
In the time of Your (I)anger.
Imprisoned Apostles Freed
17 (A)Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with [a]indignation, 18 (B)and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. 19 But at night (C)an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people (D)all the words of this life.”
21 And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. (E)But the high priest and those with him came and called the [b]council together, with all the [c]elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
Apostles on Trial Again
22 But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, 23 saying, “Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing [d]outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!” 24 Now when [e]the high priest, (F)the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. 25 So one came and told them, [f]saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”
26 Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, (G)for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.