Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David wrote this prayer.

A prayer for help

³ Jacob sent men with a message to his brother Esau. Esau was living in the land of Seir, also called Edom. ⁴ Jacob told his men, ‘This is what you must say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been staying with Laban until now. ⁵ I have cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. I have male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord so that you will be happy with me.” ’

⁶ When the men returned, they said to Jacob, ‘We went to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him.’ ⁷ Jacob was very frightened and upset when he heard this. So he separated his people into two groups. He also separated his animals. ⁸ He thought, ‘If Esau attacks one group, the other group may run away safely.’

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, ‘God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac, Lord, you said to me, “Go back to your country and to your relatives. I will do good things for you there.” ¹⁰ You have always loved me. You have continued to be kind to me. I do not deserve this. When I crossed the Jordan River to go to Haran, I only had my stick. But now I can make two big groups of people and animals. ¹¹ I pray that you will save me from the power of my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and attack me. He may also attack my family. ¹² But you have said, “I will give you many good things. I will give you so many descendants that nobody will be able to count them. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore of the sea.” ’^[a]

¹³ Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He chose some of his animals as a gift for Esau. ¹⁴ He chose 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. ¹⁵ He also chose 30 female camels, with their young ones, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He told his servants to take care of them. He separated each group of animals from the other groups. Jacob said to his servants, ‘Go in front of me. Keep some space between each group of animals.’ ¹⁷ He told the servant who led the first group of animals, ‘When my brother Esau meets you, he may ask, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Who do all these animals belong to?” ¹⁸ Then you must say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift that he has sent to my lord Esau. Jacob himself is coming behind us.” ’ ¹⁹ Jacob also told the servants who led the other groups of animals, as well as the servants who followed behind them, ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau, when you meet him. ²⁰ You must also say “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’

Jacob thought, ‘Esau will be happy to receive my gifts. He will no longer be angry with me. Then, when I meet him, he will not hurt me.’ ²¹ So Jacob sent the men with his gifts to go on to meet Esau. But he himself stayed in that place for the night.

³⁷ The people heard what Peter said to them. They were very upset. So they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Friends, tell us what we should do.’

³⁸ Peter said to them, ‘Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change how you live. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then we will baptize you. God will forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to you. ³⁹ God has promised to do all this for you and your children. He has also promised this to people who live far away in other places. The Lord our God will do it for all the people that he has called to come to him.’

⁴⁰ Peter also told them many other things. He continued to speak strongly to them. He told them to be careful and he said, ‘People who are alive today do not do what is right. Save yourselves from the punishment that God will send on them.’

⁴¹ Many of the people who listened to Peter believed his message. So the apostles baptized those people. About three thousand people who now believed in Jesus joined the group that same day.

How the believers lived

⁴² These new believers listened carefully to what the apostles taught them. They joined with everyone else in the group. They prayed together and they ate meals together.^[a]

⁴³ The apostles did many miracles which showed that the power of God was with them. As a result, all the people were very surprised and afraid. ⁴⁴ All the believers continued to meet together often. They shared all their things with each other. ⁴⁵ They sold some of their own things. Then they gave that money to any believers who needed it. ⁴⁶ The whole group of believers met together every day in the yard of the temple. They shared their food and they ate meals together in each other's homes. They were very happy and they were honest with each other. ⁴⁷ All the time, they praised God. All the other people thought that the believers were good people. Every day, the Lord saved more people so that the group of believers grew bigger.