Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 30
Joy in the Morning
A psalm; a dedication song for the house. Davidic.
1 I will exalt You, Lord,
because You have lifted me up(A)
and have not allowed my enemies
to triumph over me.(B)
2 Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You healed me.(C)
3 Lord, You brought me up from Sheol;(D)
You spared me from among those
going down[a] to the Pit.(E)
4 Sing to Yahweh, you His faithful ones,
and praise His holy name.(F)
5 For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may spend the night,
but there is joy in the morning.(G)
6 When I was secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”(H)
7 Lord, when You showed Your favor,
You made me stand like a strong mountain;(I)
when You hid Your face, I was terrified.(J)
8 Lord, I called to You;
I sought favor from my Lord:(K)
9 “What gain is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise You?
Will it proclaim Your truth?(L)
10 Lord, listen and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”(M)
12 Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?”
“Speak,” he replied.
13 The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. 14 We will certainly die(A) and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.
15 “Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request. 16 The king will surely listen in order to rescue his servant from the hand of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God’s inheritance. 17 Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the Angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you.”
18 Then the king answered the woman, “I’m going to ask you something; don’t conceal it from me!”
“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman replied.
19 The king asked, “Did Joab put you up to[a] all this?”
The woman answered. “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say. 20 Joab your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly,[b] but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the Angel of God, knowing everything on earth.”
21 Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”
22 Joab fell with his face to the ground in homage and praised the king. “Today,” Joab said, “your servant knows I have found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant.”
23 So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom(B) to Jerusalem. 24 However, the king added, “He may return to his house, but he may not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.[c]
Paul’s Defense before Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.”
Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: 2 “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that today I am going to make a defense before you about everything I am accused of by the Jews, 3 especially since you are an expert in all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem.(A) 5 They had previously known me for quite some time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.(B) 6 And now I stand on trial for the hope(C) of the promise(D) made by God to our fathers, 7 the promise our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve Him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.(E) 8 Why is it considered incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? 9 In fact, I myself supposed it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.(F) 10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.(G) 11 In all the synagogues I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them.(H) I even pursued them to foreign cities since I was greatly enraged at them.
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