Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my (A)shepherd,
I [a]shall (B)not want.
2 He makes me lie down in (C)green pastures;
He (D)leads me beside [b](E)quiet waters.
3 He (F)restores my soul;
He (G)guides me in the [c](H)paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I (I)walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death,
I (J)fear no [e]evil, for (K)You are with me;
Your (L)rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You (M)prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You [f]have (N)anointed my head with oil;
My (O)cup overflows.
6 [g]Surely (P)goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will [h](Q)dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.
17 (A)Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who dwell under siege!
18 For thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am (B)slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And will cause them distress,
That they may [a]be found.”
19 (C)Woe is me, because of my [b]injury!
My (D)wound is incurable.
But I said, “Truly this is a sickness,
And I (E)must bear it.”
20 My (F)tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken;
My (G)sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is (H)no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become stupid
And (I)have not sought the Lord;
Therefore they have not prospered,
And (J)all their flock is scattered.
22 The sound of a (K)report! Behold, it comes—
A great commotion (L)out of the land of the north—
To (M)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.
23 I know, O Lord, that (N)a man’s way is not in himself,
(O)Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.
24 (P)Correct me, O Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will [c]bring me to nothing.
25 (Q)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that (R)do not know You
And on the families that (S)do not call Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have (T)devoured him and consumed him
And have laid waste his [d]habitation.
Paul at Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at (A)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning (B)in the synagogue with the Jews and (C)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were [a]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would (D)this [b]idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching (E)Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they (F)took him and brought him [c]to the [d](G)Areopagus, saying, “May we know what (H)this new teaching is [e]which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers (I)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Sermon on Mars Hill
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [f]Areopagus and said, “Men of (J)Athens, I observe that you are very (K)religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the (L)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what (M)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 (N)The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is (O)Lord of heaven and earth, does not (P)dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, (Q)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and (R)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having (S)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, (T)though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for (U)in Him we live and move and [g]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we (V)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having (W)overlooked (X)the times of ignorance, God is (Y)now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed (Z)a day in which (AA)He will judge [h](AB)the world in righteousness [i]through a Man whom He has (AC)appointed, having furnished proof to all men [j]by (AD)raising Him from the dead.”
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