Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 “Listen, My people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.(A)
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings,
which are continually before Me.(B)
9 I will not accept a bull from your household
or male goats from your pens,(C)
10 for every animal of the forest is Mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,[a]
and the creatures of the field are Mine.(D)
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is Mine.(E)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?(F)
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,(G)
and pay your vows to the Most High.(H)
15 Call on Me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.”(I)
נ Nun
40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
and turn back to the Lord.(A)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands(B)
to God in heaven:
42 We have sinned and rebelled;
You have not forgiven.(C)
ס Samek
43 You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;
You have killed without compassion.(D)
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.(E)
45 You have made us disgusting filth
among the peoples.(F)
פ Pe
46 All our enemies
open their mouths against us.(G)
47 We have experienced panic and pitfall,(H)
devastation and destruction.
48 My eyes flow with streams of tears
because of the destruction of my dear people.
ע Ayin
49 My eyes overflow unceasingly,
without end,(I)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.(J)
51 My eyes bring me grief
because of the fate of all the women in my city.
צ Tsade
52 For no apparent reason, my enemies[a]
hunted me like a bird.(K)
53 They dropped me alive into[b] a pit(L)
and threw stones at me.
54 Water flooded over my head,(M)
and I thought: I’m going to die!(N)
ק Qof
55 I called on Your name, Yahweh,
from the depths of the Pit.(O)
56 You hear my plea:
Do not ignore my cry for relief.
57 You come near when I call on You;
You say: “Do not be afraid.”
ר Resh
Malta’s Hospitality
28 Once ashore, we(A) then learned that the island was called Malta.(B) 2 The local people(C) showed us extraordinary kindness, for they lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold. 3 As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself to his hand. 4 When the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man is probably a murderer, and though he has escaped the sea, Justice[a] does not allow him to live!”(D) 5 However, he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.(E) 6 They expected that he would swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.(F)
Ministry in Malta
7 Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.(G) 9 After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.
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