Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for the King
Of Solomon.
72 God, give the king your good judgment
and the king’s son your ·goodness [righteousness].
2 Help him judge your people ·fairly [rightly]
and decide what is ·right [just] for the poor.
3 Let there be ·peace [or prosperity] on the mountains
and ·goodness [righteousness] on the hills for the people.
4 Help him be ·fair [just] to the poor
and ·save [give victory to] the ·needy [or children of the needy]
and ·punish [crush] those who ·hurt [oppress; exploit] them.
5 May they ·respect [fear] you as long as the sun
and as long as the moon, throughout the generations.
6 Let him ·be [L come down] like rain on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Let ·goodness [righteousness] ·be plentiful [bloom forth] while he lives.
Let ·peace [or prosperity] continue ·as long as there is a [L until there is no] moon.
18 ·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does such ·miracles [wonderful things].
19 Praise his glorious name forever.
Let his glory [C manifest presence] fill the whole world.
Amen and amen.
The Branch of the Lord
2 ·At that time [L In that day] the Lord’s branch [C either the produce of the land or a title for the Messiah (11:1; Jer. 23:5)] will be very beautiful and ·great [glorious]. ·What grows on the land [The fruit of the land] will be the pride and ·joy [glory] of the ·people still living in the land [L survivors in Israel]. 3 Those who ·are still living in Jerusalem [L remain in Zion and those who are left in Jerusalem] will be called holy; ·their names [L all who] are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the ·filth [vomit; excrement] from the women of Jerusalem. He will ·wash [cleanse] the bloodstains out of Jerusalem ·with the spirit of fairness and the spirit of fire [or with a wind/spirit of judgment and burning fire; or by the Spirit of judgment and burning fire]. 5 Then the Lord will ·cover [L create over] Mount Zion and ·the people who meet there [all her assemblies] with a cloud of smoke during the day and with a bright, flaming fire at night [Ex. 13:21; 14:19–20]. There will be a ·covering of glory over every person [or canopy over all the glory]. 6 This covering will ·protect the people [L be a shelter for shade] from the heat ·of the sun [by day] and ·will provide a safe place to hide [a refuge and shelter] from the storm and rain.
A New Apostle Is Chosen
12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount ·of Olives [or called Olivet]. (This mountain is about ·half a mile [L a Sabbath day’s journey] from Jerusalem.) 13 When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot [C either a political revolutionary or one zealous for the Law of Moses; Luke 6:15]), and Judas son of James were there. 14 They all ·continued [or were constantly] praying together with some women [C followers of Jesus (Luke 8:3; 24:22) and perhaps wives of the apostles], including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers.
15 ·During this time [L In those days] there was a meeting of the ·believers [L brothers (and sisters)] (about one hundred twenty of them). Peter stood up and said,
23 They put the names of two men before the group. One was Joseph Barsabbas, who was also called Justus. The other was Matthias.
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