Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 God says, “My people, listen to me;
Israel, I will ·testify [witness] against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not ·scold [reprimand; rebuke] you for your sacrifices.
You always bring me your burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17].
9 But I do not ·need [or accept] bulls from your ·stalls [L house]
or goats from your ·pens [folds],
10 because every animal of the forest is already mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and every living thing in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the earth and ·everything in it [L its fullness] are mine.
13 ·I don’t [L Do I…?] eat the meat of bulls
or drink the blood of goats.
14 Give an ·offering to show thanks [thank offering] to God [Lev. 7:12; 22:29; Heb. 13:15].
Give God Most High what you have ·promised [vowed].
15 Call to me in times of ·trouble [distress].
I will ·save [rescue; T deliver] you, and you will ·honor [glorify] me.”
40 Let us ·examine [check] and ·see [investigate] ·what we have done [L our ways]
and then return to the Lord [C repent; Jer. 17:9–10; Ps. 139:23–24].
41 Let us lift up our hands ·and pray from [as well as] our hearts
to God in heaven:
42 “We have ·sinned [transgressed] and ·turned [rebelled] against you,
and you have not forgiven us.
43 “You ·wrapped [covered] yourself in anger and ·chased [pursued] us;
you killed us without ·mercy [pity].
44 You ·wrapped [covered] yourself in a cloud [Ex. 40:34–38],
and no prayer could ·get [pass] through.
45 You made us like ·scum [sweepings] and trash
·among the other nations [L in the midst of the peoples].
46 “All of our enemies
·open [L crack] their mouths and speak against us [2:16].
47 We have been ·frightened [terrified] and fearful,
ruined and ·destroyed [broken].”
48 ·Streams of tears [L Channels of water] flow from my eyes,
because ·my people are destroyed [L of the fracture of my people].
49 My tears flow ·continually [without ceasing],
without ·stopping [respite; relaxation],
50 until the Lord looks down
and sees from heaven.
51 ·I am sad when I see [L My eyes torment my life/soul]
·what has happened to all the women [because of all the daughters] of my city.
52 Those who are my enemies ·for no reason [without cause; Ps. 7:4; 35:7]
hunted me like a bird [Ps. 91:3; Prov. 6:5; 7:23].
53 They ·tried to kill me [destroyed my life/soul] in a pit [Ps. 7:15; 9:15];
they threw stones at me.
54 Water came up over my head [Ps. 69:1–2],
and I said, “I am ·going to die [lost; L cut off].”
55 I called out ·to you [L your name], Lord,
from the ·bottom [depth] of the pit [Ps. 130:1].
56 You heard ·me calling [L my voice], “Do not close your ears
·and ignore my gasps and shouts [to my cries for relief].”
57 You came near ·when [L in the day] I called to you;
you said, “Don’t be afraid.”
58 Lord, ·you have taken my case [you defend/have defended me]
and ·given me back [L redeem; redeemed] my life.
Paul on the Island of Malta
28 When we ·were safe on land [reached safety], we learned that the island was called Malta [C 58 miles southwest of Sicily]. 2 The ·people who lived there [native people; L barbarians; C a term referring to non-Greek speakers] were very ·good [kind] to us. Because it was raining and very cold, they made a fire and welcomed all of us. 3 Paul gathered a pile of ·sticks [brushwood] and was putting them on the fire when a ·poisonous snake [viper] came out because of the heat and ·bit [L fastened itself to] him on the hand. 4 The ·people living on the island [native people; 28:2] saw the ·snake [L creature; animal] hanging from Paul’s hand and said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He ·did not die in [L escaped from] the sea, but Justice [L Dikē; C pronounced di-káy); the goddess of justice] ·does not want [has not allowed] him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the ·snake [L creature; animal] off into the fire and ·was not hurt [suffered no harm]. 6 ·The people [L They] thought that Paul would swell up or fall down dead. They waited and watched him for a long time, but nothing ·bad [L unusual] happened to him. So they changed their minds and said, “He is a god!”
7 There ·were some fields [or was an estate] around there owned by Publius, ·an important man [or the chief official; governor] on the island. He ·welcomed [received] us into his home and ·was very good to us [provided generous hospitality; treated us as honored guests] for three days. 8 Publius’ father was sick in bed with a fever and dysentery [C a serious illness that includes cramping and severe diarrhea]. Paul went to him, prayed, and ·put [or laid] his hands on the man and healed him. 9 After this, ·all the other [L the rest of the] sick people on the island came to Paul, and he healed them, too.
Paul Goes to Rome
After three months we got on a ship from Alexandria [27:6] that had stayed on the island during the winter. On the front of the ship was the sign of the ·twin gods [C Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of Zeus; protectors of sailors].
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