Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A prayer of David.
17 Lord, hear me, because I ask for what is right.
Listen to my cry for help.
Hear my prayer.
It doesn’t come from lips that tell lies.
2 When you hand down your sentence, may it be in my favor.
May your eyes see what is right.
3 Look deep down into my heart.
Study me carefully at night and test me.
You won’t find anything wrong.
I have planned nothing evil.
My mouth has not said sinful things.
4 Though evil people tried to pay me to do wrong,
I have not done what they wanted.
Instead I have done what you commanded.
5 My steps have stayed on your paths.
My feet have not slipped.
6 My God, I call out to you because you will answer me.
Listen to me. Hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love.
By using your great power,
you save those who go to you for safety from their enemies.
8 Take good care of me, just as you would take care of your own eyes.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
9 Save me from the sinful people who want to destroy me.
Save me from my deadly enemies who are all around me.
5 Suppose two brothers are living near each other. And one of them dies without having a son. Then his widow must not marry anyone outside the family. Her husband’s brother should marry her. That’s what a brother-in-law is supposed to do. 6 Her first baby boy will be named after her first husband. Then the dead man’s name will continue in Israel.
7 But suppose the man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s wife. Then she will go to the elders at the gate of the town. She will say, “My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He won’t do for me what a brother-in-law is supposed to do.” 8 Then the elders in his town will send for him. They will talk to him. But he still might say, “I don’t want to marry her.” 9 Then his brother’s widow will go up to him in front of the elders. She’ll pull one of his sandals off his foot. She’ll spit in his face. And she’ll say, “That’s what we do to a man who won’t build up his brother’s family line.” 10 That man’s family line will be known in Israel as The Family of the Man Whose Sandal Was Pulled Off.
Paul the Roman Citizen
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
23 They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air. 24 So the commanding officer ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. He gave orders for Paul to be whipped and questioned. He wanted to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 A commander was standing there as they stretched Paul out to be whipped. Paul said to him, “Does the law allow you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
26 When the commander heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it. “What are you going to do?” the commander asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 So the commanding officer went to Paul. “Tell me,” he asked. “Are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” Paul answered.
28 Then the officer said, “I had to pay a lot of money to become a citizen.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29 Right away those who were about to question him left. Even the officer was alarmed. He realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Paul Is Taken to the Sanhedrin
30 The commanding officer wanted to find out exactly what the Jews had against Paul. So the next day he let Paul out of prison. He ordered a meeting of the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin. Then he brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.
23 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I have always done my duty to God. To this day I feel that I have done nothing wrong.” 2 Ananias the high priest heard this. So he ordered the men standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “You pretender! God will hit you! You sit there and judge me by the law. But you yourself broke the law when you commanded them to hit me!”
4 Those who were standing near Paul spoke to him. They said, “How dare you talk like that to God’s high priest!”
5 Paul replied, “Brothers, I didn’t realize he was the high priest. It is written, ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’ ” (Exodus 22:28)
6 Paul knew that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees. So he called out to the members of the Sanhedrin. “My brothers,” he said, “I am a Pharisee. I come from a family of Pharisees. I believe that people will rise from the dead. That’s why I am on trial.” 7 When he said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees started to argue. They began to take sides. 8 The Sadducees say that people will not rise from the dead. They don’t believe there are angels or spirits either. But the Pharisees believe all these things.
9 People were causing trouble and making a lot of noise. Some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up. They argued strongly. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 The people arguing were getting out of control. The commanding officer was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. So he ordered the soldiers to go down and take him away from them by force. The officer had told them to bring Paul into the fort.
11 The next night the Lord stood near Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people about me in Jerusalem. You must do the same in Rome.”
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