Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

To the Overcomer upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.

¹ ¶ Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my meditation.

² Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God, for unto thee will I pray.

³ My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; early will I present myself unto thee and wait.

⁴ For thou art not a God that loves wickedness; neither shall one who is evil dwell with thee.

⁵ The foolish (those who are governed by carnal thoughts or desires) shall not stand in thy sight; thou dost hate all workers of iniquity.

⁶ Thou shalt destroy those that speak lies: the LORD will abominate the bloody and deceitful man.

⁷ ¶ But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear I will worship toward thy holy temple.

⁸ Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

⁹ For there is no uprightness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out for the multitude of their rebellions; for they have rebelled against thee.

¹¹ And all those that put their trust in thee shall rejoice: they shall ever be in jubilee, for thou shalt cover them; and all that love thy name shall be joyful in thee.

¹² For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

1 ¶ The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan, the palace,

² that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

³ And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.

⁴ And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of the heavens

⁵ ¶ and said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of the heavens, strong, great and terrible, who keeps covenant and mercy for those that love thee and observe thy commandments;

⁶ let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open, that thou may hear the prayer of thy slave, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the sons of Israel, thy slaves, and I confess the sins of the sons of Israel, with which we have sinned against thee; both I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁷ We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments, which thou didst command thy slave Moses.

⁸ Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou didst command thy slave Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples;

⁹ but if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there.

¹⁰ Now these are thy slaves and thy people, whom thou hast ransomed with thy great power and with thy strong hand.

¹¹ O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy slave and to the prayer of thy slaves who desire to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy slave this day, and grant him grace before this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.

3 ¶ Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

² And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms {lit. acts of mercy} of those that entered into the temple,

³ who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked for alms.

⁴ And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

⁵ And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

⁶ Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

⁷ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

⁸ And he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹ And all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰ and they knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.