Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
2 (B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3 (C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
30 (A)I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 (B)This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 (C)The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, (D)your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise (E)His prisoners.
The Holy Anointing Oil(A)
22 Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Also take for yourself (B)quality spices—five hundred shekels of liquid (C)myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling (D)cane, 24 five hundred shekels of (E)cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a (F)hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be (G)a holy anointing oil. 26 (H)With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; (I)whatever touches them must be holy. 30 (J)And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests.
31 “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. (K)It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 (L)Whoever [a]compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, (M)shall be [b]cut off from his people.’ ”
The Incense(N)
34 And the Lord said to Moses: (O)“Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound (P)according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting (Q)where I will meet with you. (R)It shall be most holy to you. 37 But as for the incense which you shall make, (S)you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its [c]composition. It shall be to you holy for the Lord. 38 (T)Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the (A)Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.
Then he said: 3 (B)“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city (C)at the feet of (D)Gamaliel, taught (E)according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and (F)was zealous toward God (G)as you all are today. 4 (H)I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as also the high priest bears me witness, and (I)all the council of the elders, (J)from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus (K)to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “Now (L)it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “And (M)those who were with me indeed saw the light [a]and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. 10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 “Then (N)a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, (O)having a good testimony with all the (P)Jews who dwelt there, 13 came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said, (Q)‘The God of our fathers (R)has chosen you that you should (S)know His will, and (T)see the Just One, (U)and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 (V)For you will be His witness to all men of (W)what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, (X)and wash away your sins, (Y)calling on the name of the Lord.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.