Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 125

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.

¹ Those who trust in, lean on, and confidently hope in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides and stands fast forever.

² As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from this time forth and forever.

³ For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the [uncompromisingly] righteous, lest the righteous (God’s people) stretch forth their hands to iniquity and apostasy.

⁴ Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are right [with You and all people] in their hearts.

⁵ As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways [of indifference to God], the Lord will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!

⁹ And when they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.

¹⁰ He said, You have asked a hard thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you—but if not, it shall not be so.

¹¹ As they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire parted the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

¹² And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

¹³ He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

¹⁴ And he took the mantle that fell from Elijah and struck the waters and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? And when he had struck the waters, they parted this way and that, and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ When the sons of the prophets who were [watching] at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

¹⁶ And they said to him, Behold now, there are among your servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray you, and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send.

¹⁷ But when they urged him till he was embarrassed, he said, Send. So they sent fifty men, who sought for three days but did not find him.

¹⁸ When they returned to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, he said to them, Did I not tell you, Do not go?

¹⁹ And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, inhabiting of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad and the locality causes miscarriage and barrenness [in all animals].

²⁰ He said, Bring me a new bowl and put salt [the symbol of God’s purifying power] in it. And they brought it to him.

²¹ Then Elisha went to the spring of the waters and cast the salt in it and said, Thus says the Lord: I [not the salt] have healed these waters; there shall not be any more death, miscarriage or barrenness [and bereavement] because of it.

²² So the waters were healed to this day, as Elisha had said.

¹⁷ And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance [not aware of what you were doing], as did your rulers also.

¹⁸ Thus has God fulfilled what He foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ (the Messiah) should undergo ill treatment and be afflicted and suffer.

¹⁹ So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of ^[a]reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;

²⁰ And that He may send [to you] the Christ (the Messiah), Who before was designated and appointed for you—even Jesus,

²¹ Whom heaven must receive [and retain] until the time for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets for ages past [from the most ancient time in the memory of man].

²² Thus Moses said to the forefathers, The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren as [He raised up] me; Him you shall listen to and understand by hearing and heed in all things whatever He tells you.

²³ And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to and understand by hearing and heed that Prophet shall be utterly ^[b]exterminated from among the people.^(A)

²⁴ Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel and those who came afterwards, as many as have spoken, also promised and foretold and proclaimed these days.

²⁵ You are the descendants (sons) of the prophets and the heirs of the covenant which God made and gave to your forefathers, saying to Abraham, And in your Seed (Heir) shall all the families of the earth be blessed and benefited.^(B)

²⁶ It was to you first that God sent His Servant and Son Jesus, when He raised Him up [^[c]provided and gave Him for us], to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness and evil ways.^(C)

4 And while they [Peter and John] were talking to the people, the high priests and the military commander of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,

² Being vexed and indignant through and through because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in [the case of] Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

³ So they laid hands on them (arrested them) and put them in prison until the following day, for it was already evening.

⁴ But many of those who heard the message believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus as the Christ). And their number grew and came to about 5,000.