Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
A (A)Contemplation[a] of Asaph.
78 Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a (B)parable;
I will utter [b]dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 (C)We will not hide them from their children,
(D)Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
52 But He (A)made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
53 And He (B)led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea (C)overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And He brought them to His (D)holy border,
This mountain (E)which His right hand had acquired.
55 (F)He also drove out the nations before them,
(G)Allotted them an inheritance by [a]survey,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 (H)Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But (I)turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside (J)like a deceitful bow.
58 (K)For they provoked Him to anger with their (L)high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
60 (M)So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
61 (N)And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
62 (O)He also gave His people over to the sword,
And was furious with His inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men,
And (P)their maidens were not given in marriage.
64 (Q)Their priests fell by the sword,
And (R)their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
(S)Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
66 And (T)He beat back His enemies;
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion (U)which He loved.
69 And He built His (V)sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70 (W)He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From following (X)the ewes that had young He brought him,
(Y)To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the (Z)integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long (A)do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 And the house of Israel called its name [a]Manna. And (B)it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, (C)“Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up (D)before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel (E)ate manna (F)forty years, (G)until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Conflict over Circumcision
15 And (A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, (B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that (C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
3 So, (D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, (E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
The Jerusalem Decree
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named (A)Barsabas,[a] and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
23 They wrote this letter by them:
The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that (B)some who went out from us have troubled you with words, (C)unsettling your souls, [b]saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one [c]accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 (D)men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 (E)that you abstain from things offered to idols, (F)from blood, from things strangled, and from (G)sexual[d] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
Farewell.
Continuing Ministry in Syria
30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being (H)prophets also, (I)exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33 And after they had stayed there for a time, they were (J)sent back with greetings from the brethren to [e]the apostles.
34 [f]However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 (K)Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.