Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
[a]Maskil of David, when he was [b]in the cave. A Prayer.
142 I (A)cry out with my voice to the Lord;
With my voice I (B)implore the Lord for compassion.
2 I (C)pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my (D)trouble before Him.
3 When (E)my spirit felt weak within me,
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have (F)hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see;
For there is (G)no one who regards me favorably;
[c]There is no (H)escape for me;
(I)No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried out to You, Lord;
I said, “You are (J)my refuge,
My (K)portion in the (L)land of the living.
6 (M)Give Your attention to my cry,
For I have been (N)brought very low;
Rescue me from my persecutors,
For they are too (O)strong for me.
7 (P)Bring my soul out of prison,
So that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me,
For You will (Q)look after me.”
“Seek Me So That You May Live”
5 Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a (A)song of mourning, house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, she will (B)not rise again—
The (C)virgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is (D)no one to raise her up.
3 For this is what the Lord [a]God says:
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a (E)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have (F)ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
“(G)Seek Me (H)so that you may live.
5 But do not [b]resort to (I)Bethel
And do not come to (J)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to (K)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will [c]come to nothing.
6 (L)Seek the Lord so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a (M)fire, [d]house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
7 For those who turn (N)justice into wormwood,
And [e]throw righteousness to the earth.”
8 He who made the (O)Pleiades and Orion,
And (P)changes deep darkness into morning,
[f]Who also (Q)darkens day into night,
Who (R)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The (S)Lord is His name.
9 It is He who (T)makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that (U)destruction comes upon the fortress.
Paul Seized in the Temple
27 When (A)the seven days were almost over, (B)the Jews from [a](C)Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! (D)This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has (E)defiled this holy place!” 29 For they had previously seen (F)Trophimus the (G)Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then the whole city was provoked and [b]the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they (H)dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the (I)Roman [c]cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He immediately (J)took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to [d]the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be (K)bound with (L)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34 But among the crowd, (M)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the [e]facts because of the uproar, he ordered that [f]Paul be brought into (N)the barracks. 35 When Paul got to (O)the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the [g]mob; 36 for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “(P)Away with him!”
37 As Paul was about to be brought into (Q)the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then you are not (R)the Egyptian who some [h]time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out (S)into the wilderness?” 39 But Paul said, “(T)I am a Jew of Tarsus in (U)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”
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