Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Morning Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
5 Lord, ·listen [L give ear] to my words.
Understand my ·sadness [L moans; sighs].
2 ·Listen [Pay attention] to my cry for help, my King and my God,
because I pray to you.
3 Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I ·tell you what I need [or prepare a sacrifice for you; L stretch out/arrange before you],
and I ·wait for your answer [L watch].
4 You are not a God who ·is pleased with the wicked [takes delight in evil];
·you do not live with those who do evil [L evil does not sojourn with you].
5 Those people who ·make fun of you [or boast] cannot stand before ·you [L your eyes].
You hate all those who do evil.
6 You destroy ·liars [L those who speak lies];
the Lord ·hates [despises] those ·who kill and trick others [L with bloodguilt and deceit].
7 Because of your great ·love [loyalty; covenant love],
I ·can [or will] come into your ·Temple [L house].
Because I ·fear you [hold you in awe],
I can ·worship [bow down] ·in [or toward] your holy Temple.
8 Lord, since I have many enemies,
·show me the right thing to do [L lead/guide me in your righteousness].
·Show me clearly how you want me to live [L Make your way straight before me].
9 My enemies’ mouths do not tell the truth;
·in their hearts they want to destroy others [L their innards are destruction].
Their throats are like open graves [Rom. 3:13];
they use their tongues for ·telling lies [flattery].
10 God, ·declare them guilty [L make them bear their iniquity]!
Let them fall ·into their own traps [or by their own advice].
·Send [Cast] them away because their ·sins [transgressions] are many;
they have ·turned [rebelled] against you.
11 But let everyone who ·trusts [finds refuge in] you ·be happy [rejoice];
let them sing glad songs forever.
·Protect [L Spread your protection on] those who love you
and ·who are happy because of you [L let those who love your name rejoice in you].
12 Lord, you bless those who ·do what is right [are righteous];
you ·protect them [L surround them with favor] like a shield.
13 What can I ·say [testify] about you, [L daughter] Jerusalem?
What can I compare you to?
What can I say you are like?
How can I comfort you, ·Jerusalem [L virgin daughter Zion; C location of the Temple]?
Your ·ruin [wound] is as ·deep [great] as the sea.
·No one [L Who…?] can heal you.
14 Your prophets saw visions,
but they were ·false [empty] and ·worth nothing [insipid; nonsense; Ezek. 10:10–12].
They did not ·point out [expose] your ·sins [guilt]
to ·keep you from being captured [or restore your fortunes].
They ·preached what was [L saw oracles for you that were] ·false [empty]
and ·led you wrongly [fraudulent].
15 All who pass by on the road
clap their hands at you [C in approval of Jerusalem’s destruction; Ezek. 25:6];
they ·make fun of [hiss at; C in scorn; 1 Kin. 9:8; Jer. 19:8; Zeph. 2:15] [L the daughter of] Jerusalem
and shake their heads.
They ask, “Is this the city that people called
the most beautiful city,
the ·happiest place on [joy of the whole] earth [Ps. 48:2]?”
16 All your enemies ·open [L crack] their mouths
to speak against you.
They make fun and ·grind [gnash] their teeth [C in anger].
They say, “We have swallowed you up.
This is the day we were ·waiting [hoping] for!
We have finally seen it happen.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has ·kept [fulfilled] his ·word [threat; C the covenant curses; Deut. 28:45–50]
that he commanded ·long ago [L in days of old].
He has ·destroyed [demolished] without ·mercy [pity],
and he has let your enemies laugh at you [C such as Edom; Obad. 1–21].
He has ·strengthened [L exalted the horn of; C symbol of pride and power] your enemies.
Barnabas and Saul Are Chosen
13 In the church at Antioch there were these prophets and teachers: Barnabas [4:36], Simeon (also called Niger [C meaning “Black”; Luke 23:26]), Lucius (from the city of Cyrene [C a city in North Africa]), Manaen (who ·had grown up with Herod [or was a close friend of Herod; or was a member of Herod’s court], the ·ruler [L tetrarch; C a Roman political title; see Luke 3:1]), and Saul. 2 They were all ·worshiping [or serving] the Lord and fasting [C giving up eating for spiritual purposes]. During this time the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to do ·a special [L the] work for which I have ·chosen [called] them.”
3 So after they fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on [C a ritual of blessing and/or conferring of authority] Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.
Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus
4 Barnabas and Saul, sent out by the Holy Spirit, went to the city of Seleucia [C a Syrian city 15 miles from Antioch]. From there they sailed to the island of Cyprus [C an island off the coast of Syria, and Barnabas’ homeland; 4:36]. 5 When they came to Salamis [C the main city of Cyprus], they preached the ·Good News [Gospel; L word] of God in the synagogues [L of the Jews]. John Mark was ·with them to help [their assistant].
6 They went across the whole island to Paphos [C the capital city of Cyprus, on the southwest coast] where they met a ·magician [sorcerer] named Bar-Jesus [C meaning “son of Jesus/Joshua”]. He was a Jewish false prophet 7 who ·always stayed close to [L was with; C perhaps an assistant or advisor] Sergius Paulus, the ·governor [proconsul] and a ·smart [intelligent; discerning] man. He asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him, because he wanted to hear the ·message [L word] of God. 8 But Elymas, the magician (that is what his name means), was against them [C Elymas probably comes either from an Arabic word meaning “wise man” or an Aramaic word meaning “interpreter of dreams”—hence a “magician”]. He tried to ·stop [turn away] the ·governor [proconsul] from ·believing in Jesus [L the faith]. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul [C Saul was his Jewish name; Paul his Roman name (both probably given at birth)], was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked ·straight [intently] at Elymas 10 and said, “You son of the devil! You are an enemy of ·everything that is right [all righteousness]! You are full of ·lies [deceit] and ·evil tricks [fraud; evil schemes], ·always trying to change the Lord’s truths into lies [L will you never stop making crooked/perverting the straight paths of the Lord?]. 11 Now [L look; T behold] the [L hand of the] Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun.”
Then ·everything became dark for [L mist and darkness fell upon] Elymas, and he walked around, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the ·governor [proconsul] saw this, he believed because he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
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