Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 135[a]
Praise of God, Benefactor of His People
1 [b]Alleluia.
Praise the name of the Lord;
offer him praise, you servants of the Lord,[c]
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.[d]
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to honor his name, for he is gracious.[e]
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.[f]
5 [g]I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is superior to all gods.[h]
6 The Lord does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all their depths.[i]
7 He causes clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning[j] with the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
8 [k]He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,[l]
those of humans as well as of animals.
9 He sent signs and portents into your midst, O Egypt,[m]
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations
and slew mighty kings:
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.[n]
12 He then gave their lands as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.[o]
13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, lasts throughout the ages.[p]
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and show compassion to his servants.[q]
15 [r]The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see.
17 They have ears but they cannot hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them end up like them,
as do all who place their trust in them.
19 [s]O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed from Zion be the Lord,
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Alleluia.[t]
Chapter 14
Idolatry of the Elders. 1 Some of the elders came into my presence and sat down before me.[a] 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 Son of man, these men have reserved a special place in their hearts for their idols and have continued to revere the occasions of sin that led to their downfall. Why should I allow myself to be consulted by them?
4 Therefore, speak to them and declare this: Thus says the Lord God: To all those belonging to the house of Israel who continue to revere their idols in their hearts and fail to remove the stumbling block of their iniquity and then approach a prophet, I, the Lord, will deliver my answer to those who approach me with their multitude of idols. 5 In this way, I will recapture the hearts of the house of Israel, all of those who have been estranged from me through their idols.
6 Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For if any members of the house of Israel or any aliens who reside in Israel separate themselves from me, holding the memory of their idols in their hearts and keeping the cause of their iniquity before their eyes, and then approach a prophet to consult me, I, the Lord, will answer them myself. 8 I will set my face against them, and I will make them an example and a byword. I will cut them off from the midst of my people, and thus you will know that I am the Lord.
9 If a prophet is led astray into making a prophecy, I, the Lord, shall have been the one who deceived that prophet. I will stretch out my hand against him and eradicate him from the presence of my people Israel. 10 The punishments received by the inquirer and the prophet shall be identical, 11 so that the house of Israel will never again stray from me or defile themselves any longer with all their sins. Thus, they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.
First Encounter with the Authorities in Israel
Chapter 3
In the Name of Jesus Christ, Walk![a] 1 One day, Peter and John were on their way to the temple for the hour of prayer at three o’clock in the afternoon.[b] 2 A man who had been crippled from his birth was carried there every day and laid at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate[c] so that he could beg for alms from those who entered the temple.
3 When this man saw Peter and John about to enter into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4 Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said to him, “Look at us!” 5 He looked at them attentively, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”
7 Then Peter grasped him by the right hand and helped him to get up. Immediately, his feet and ankles were strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood straight, and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 When all the people there saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the man who used to sit and beg for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.