Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 30
A psalm by David sung at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will honor you highly, O Yahweh,
because you have pulled me out of the pit
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Yahweh my Elohim,
I cried out to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 O Yahweh, you brought me up from the grave.
You called me back to life
from among those who had gone into the pit.
4 Make music to praise Yahweh, you faithful people who belong to him.
Remember his holiness by giving thanks.
5 His anger lasts only a moment.
His favor lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may last for the night,
but there is a song of joy in the morning.
6 When all was well with me, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
7 O Yahweh, by your favor you have made my mountain stand firm.
When you hid your face, I was terrified.
8 I will cry out to you, O Yahweh.
I will plead to Adonay for mercy:
9 “How will you profit if my blood is shed,
if I go into the pit?
Will the dust of my body give thanks to you?
Will it tell about your truth?”
10 Hear, O Yahweh, and have pity on me!
O Yahweh, be my helper!
11 You have changed my sobbing into dancing.
You have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy
12 so that my soul[a] may praise you with music and not be silent.
O Yahweh my Elohim, I will give thanks to you forever.
12 The woman said, “Please let me say something else to you.”
“Speak,” he said.
13 “Why have you devised something like this against Elohim’s people?” she said. “When you say this, you condemn yourself because you haven’t brought back the one you banished! 14 We are all going to die; we are all like water that is poured on the ground and can’t be gathered up. But doesn’t Elohim forgive a person? He never plans to keep a banished person in exile.
15 “I’ve come to say this to you because the people have frightened me. So I thought, ‘I will speak to the king about this. Maybe the king will do something for me, his subject. 16 Maybe the king will listen and rescue me, his subject, from the man who wants to cut off both me and my son from our Elohim-given inheritance.’ 17 I thought that you would reassure me. You are like Elohim’s Messenger, who is able to distinguish right from wrong. May Yahweh your Elohim be with you!”
18 The king said to the woman, “Please don’t refuse to answer the question I’m going to ask you.”
The woman responded, “Please speak, Your Majesty.”
19 “Did Joab put you up to this?” the king asked.
The woman answered, “I solemnly swear on your life, Your Majesty, you are absolutely right. Yes, your servant Joab ordered me to do this. He told me to say exactly what I said. 20 Your servant Joab has done this to portray the matter in a different light. You are as wise as Elohim’s Messenger, who knows everything on earth.”
21 Then the king told Joab, “This is what you’ll do. Bring back the young man Absalom.”
22 Joab quickly bowed down with his face touching the ground, and he blessed the king. He said, “Today I know that you have been kind to me because you have done what I wanted.”
23 So Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. 24 But the king said, “Absalom should return to his own house. He will not see me.” So Absalom returned to his house and didn’t see the king.
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You’re free to speak for yourself.”
Paul acknowledged King Agrippa and then began his defense. 2 “King Agrippa, I think I’m fortunate today to stand in front of you and defend myself against every charge that the Jews brought against me. 3 I say this since you are especially familiar with every custom and controversy in Judaism. So I ask you to listen patiently to me.
4 “All the Jews know how I lived the earliest days of my youth with my own people and in Jerusalem. 5 They’ve known me for a long time and can testify, if they’re willing, that I followed the strictest party of our religion. They know that I lived my life as a Pharisee.
6 “I’m on trial now because I expect God to keep the promise that he made to our ancestors. 7 Our twelve tribes expect this promise to be kept as they worship with intense devotion day and night. Your Majesty, the Jews are making accusations against me because I expect God to keep his promise. 8 Why do all of you refuse to believe that God can bring dead people back to life?
9 “I used to think that I had to do a lot of things to oppose the one named Yeshua of Nazareth. 10 That is what I did in Jerusalem. By the authority I received from the chief priests, I locked many Christians in prison. I voted to have them killed every time a vote was taken. 11 I even went to each synagogue, punished believers, and forced them to curse the name of Yeshua. In my furious rage against them, I hunted them down in cities outside Jerusalem.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.