Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁵ Let heaven (the angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord, Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones (the holy angels).

⁶ For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the mighty [heavenly beings] can be likened to the Lord,

⁷ A God greatly feared and revered in the council of the holy (angelic) ones, and to be feared and worshipfully revered above all those who are round about Him?

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, who is a mighty one like unto You, O Lord? And Your faithfulness is round about You [an essential part of You at all times].

⁹ You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves arise, You still them.

¹⁰ You have broken Rahab (Egypt) in pieces; with Your mighty arm You have scattered Your enemies.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all that is in it, You have founded them.

¹² The north and the south, You have created them; Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon joyously praise Your name.

¹³ You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, Your right hand is soaring high.

¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and loving-kindness and truth go before Your face.

¹⁵ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the people who know the joyful sound [who understand and appreciate the spiritual blessings symbolized by the feasts]; they walk, O Lord, in the light and favor of Your countenance!

¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all the day, and in Your righteousness they are exalted.

¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength [their proud adornment], and by Your favor our horn is exalted and we walk with uplifted faces!

¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Once You spoke in a vision to Your devoted ones and said, I have endowed one who is mighty [a hero, giving him the power to help—to be a champion for Israel]; I have exalted one chosen from among the people.

²⁰ I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him,^(A)

²¹ With whom My hand shall be established and ever abide; My arm also shall strengthen him.

²² The enemy shall not exact from him or do him violence or outwit him, nor shall the wicked afflict and humble him.

²³ I will beat down his foes before his face and smite those who hate him.

²⁴ My faithfulness and My mercy and loving-kindness shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted [great power and prosperity shall be conferred upon him].

²⁵ I will set his hand in control also on the [Mediterranean] Sea, and his right hand on the rivers [Euphrates with its tributaries].

²⁶ He shall cry to Me, You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!

²⁷ Also I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.^(B)

²⁸ My mercy and loving-kindness will I keep for him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast and be faithful with him.

²⁹ His ^[a]Offspring also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.^(C)

³⁰ If his children forsake My law and walk not in My ordinances,

³¹ If they break or profane My statutes and keep not My commandments,

³² Then will I punish their transgression with the rod [of chastisement], and their iniquity with stripes.^(D)

³³ Nevertheless, My loving-kindness will I not break off from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail [to lie and be false to him].

³⁴ My covenant will I not break or profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.

³⁵ Once [for all] have I sworn by My holiness, which cannot be violated; I will not lie to David:

³⁶ His Offspring shall endure forever, and his throne [shall continue] as the sun before Me.^(E)

³⁷ It shall be established forever as the moon, the faithful witness in the heavens. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^(F)

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying,

⁵ Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.^(A)

⁶ Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am only a youth.^(B)

⁷ But the Lord said to me, Say not, I am only a youth; for you shall go to all to whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

⁸ Be not afraid of them [their faces], for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

⁹ Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

¹⁰ See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

⁴ Now those who were scattered abroad went about [through the land from place to place] preaching the glad tidings, the Word [^[a]the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God].

⁵ Philip [the deacon, not the apostle] went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (the Messiah) to them [the people];^(A)

⁶ And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Philip, as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing [from time to time].

⁷ For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them, screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health.

⁸ And there was great rejoicing in that city.

⁹ But there was a man named Simon, who had formerly practiced magic arts in the city to the utter amazement of the Samaritan nation, claiming that he himself was an extraordinary and distinguished person.

¹⁰ They all paid earnest attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that exhibition of the power of God which is called great (intense).

¹¹ And they were attentive and made much of him, because for a long time he had amazed and bewildered and dazzled them with his skill in magic arts.

¹² But when they believed the good news (the Gospel) about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) as Philip preached it, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³ Even Simon himself believed [he adhered to, trusted in, and relied on the teaching of Philip], and after being baptized, devoted himself constantly to him. And seeing signs and miracles of great power which were being performed, he was utterly amazed.