Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 6
For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by the lyre.[a]
1 O Eternal One, don’t punish me in Your anger
or harshly correct me.
2 Show me grace, Eternal God. I am completely undone.
Bring me back together, Eternal One. Mend my shattered bones.
3 My soul is drowning in darkness.
How long can You, the Eternal, let things go on like this?
4 Come back, Eternal One, and lead me to Your saving light.
Rescue me because I know You are truly compassionate.
5 I’m alive for a reason—I can’t worship You if I’m dead.
If I’m six feet under, how can I thank You?
6 I’m exhausted. I cannot even speak, my voice fading as sighs.
Every day ends in the same place—lying in bed, covered in tears,
my pillow wet with sorrow.
7 My eyes burn, devoured with grief;
they grow weak as I constantly watch for my enemies.
8 All who are evil, stay away from me
because the Eternal hears my voice, listens as I cry.
9 The Eternal God hears my simple prayers;
He receives my request.
10 All who seek to destroy me will be humiliated;
they will turn away and suddenly crumble in shame.
15 Naaman and all his entourage went back to the man of God.
Naaman: I am convinced that there is no God who exists in the entire world like the True God in Israel. Please accept this gift from me, your humble servant.
Elisha: 16 As certain as the life of the Eternal whom I worship, I refuse to take any gifts.
Naaman tried again to give Elisha a gift, but Elisha would not take it.
Naaman: 17 OK. If you won’t take my gift, at least allow me to take two mule-loads of earth. I, your servant, will no longer give burnt offerings or sacrifices to other gods. The Eternal One is my only God now. 18 May the Eternal One forgive me when I walk into the house of Rimmon, the storm god of Aram, to worship there beside my master. As his first officer, I must be by his side wherever he goes, even when he worships. May He forgive me for bowing down in that place.
Elisha: 19 Go, and be at peace about this matter.
So Naaman left and traveled for a while.
21 Eventually Paul felt he should move on again. The Holy Spirit confirmed that he should first travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then return to Jerusalem.
Paul: I must eventually see Rome.
22 So he sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed a while longer in Asia. 23 It was during this time that a major incident occurred involving the Way.
In most cities, the Jews stand in opposition to the Way; but in this instance, the outsiders cause the disturbance.
24 An idol maker named Demetrius had a profitable business, for himself and for others, making silver shrines for Artemis (also known as Diana by the Romans), one of the deities worshiped in Ephesus.
25 Picture this: Demetrius calls a meeting of all the artisans who are similarly employed in idol making. Everyone in the idol industry comes together.
Demetrius: Men, we are all colleagues in this fine line of work. We’re making a good living doing what we’re doing. But we’d better wake up, or we’re all going to go broke.
26 You’ve heard about this fellow Paul. Here in Ephesus, he’s already convinced a large number of people to give up using idols. He tells them that our products are worthless. He’s been doing this same kind of thing almost everywhere in Asia. 27 It’s bad enough that he is slandering our fine and honorable profession, but do you see where this will lead? If his lies catch on, the temple of Artemis itself will be called a fraud. The great goddess of our region, the majestic deity who is revered here in Asia and around the world, will be disgraced.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.