Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 135
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord’s name!
All you who serve the Lord, praise God!
2 All you who stand in the Lord’s house—
who stand in the courtyards of our God’s temple—
3 praise the Lord, because the Lord is good!
Sing praises to God’s name because it is beautiful!
4 Because the Lord chose Jacob as his own,
God chose Israel as his treasured possession.
5 Yes, I know for certain that the Lord is great—
I know our Lord is greater than all other gods.
6 The Lord can do whatever he wants
in heaven or on earth,
in the seas and in every ocean depth.
7 God forms clouds at the far corners of the earth.
God makes lightning for the rain.
God releases the wind from its storeroom.
8 God struck down the Egyptians’ oldest offspring—
both human and animal!
9 God sent signs and wonders into the very center of Egypt—
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 God struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings:
11 Sihon the Amorite king,
Og the king of Bashan,
and all the Canaanite kings.
12 Then God handed their land over as an inheritance—
as an inheritance to Israel, his own people.
13 Lord, your name is forever!
Lord, your fame extends from one generation to the next!
14 The Lord gives justice to his people
and has compassion on those who serve him.
15 The nations’ idols are just silver and gold—
things made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they can’t speak.
They have eyes, but they can’t see.
17 They have ears, but they can’t listen.
No, there’s no breath in their lungs!
18 Let the people who made these idols
and all who trust in them
become just like them!
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord!
House of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who honor the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Bless the Lord from Zion—
bless the one who lives in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
False devotion
14 When some of the elders of the house of Israel came to sit in my presence, 2 the Lord’s word came to me: 3 Human one, these men decide on their own to set up their idols, so the cause of their downfall is right in front of them. Why should I allow them to ask me anything? 4 Therefore, speak to them and tell them, The Lord God proclaims: If anyone from the house of Israel decides on his own to set up his idols and puts the cause of his downfall right in front of him, but then comes to the prophet, I, the Lord, will require an answer from him through his many idols. 5 So I’ll seize the hearts of the house of Israel, whose idols have made them all strangers to me.
6 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, The Lord God proclaims: Come back! Turn away from your idols and from all your detestable practices. Turn away! 7 Or anyone of the house of Israel or any immigrant in Israel who becomes estranged from me by deciding on their own to set up their idols and puts the cause of their downfall right in front of them, but then comes to the prophet to ask me something through him, I, the Lord, will require an answer. 8 I will confront that one. I will set them up as a sign and an object lesson, and I will cut them off from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9 As for the prophet who was seduced into speaking a word, even though it was I, the Lord, who seduced that prophet, I will use my power against him and cut him off completely from my people Israel. 10 The prophet and the inquirer alike will bear their guilt, 11 so that the house of Israel won’t stray away from me again or make themselves impure with any of their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God. This is what the Lord God says!
Healing of a crippled man
3 Peter and John were going up to the temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the established prayer time. 2 Meanwhile, a man crippled since birth was being carried in. Every day, people would place him at the temple gate known as the Beautiful Gate so he could ask for money from those entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he began to ask them for a gift. 4 Peter and John stared at him. Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gazed at them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Peter said, “I don’t have any money, but I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk!” 7 Then he grasped the man’s right hand and raised him up. At once his feet and ankles became strong. 8 Jumping up, he began to walk around. He entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 They recognized him as the same one who used to sit at the temple’s Beautiful Gate asking for money. They were filled with amazement and surprise at what had happened to him.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible