Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: With stringed instruments. On an eight-stringed harp.[a] A Davidic Psalm
A Prayer in Times of Trouble
6 Lord, in your anger, do not rebuke me;
in your wrath, do not discipline me.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am fading away.
Heal me,
because my body[b] is distressed.
3 And my soul[c] is deeply distressed.
But you, Lord, how long do I wait?[d]
4 Return, Lord,
save my life!
Deliver me, because of your gracious love.
5 In death, there is no memory of you.
Who will give you thanks where the dead are?[e]
6 I am weary from my groaning.
Every night my couch is drenched with tears,
my bed is soaked through.
7 My eyesight has faded because of grief,
it has dimmed because of all my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all of you who practice evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord receives my prayer.
10 As for all my enemies, they will be put to shame;
they will be greatly frightened
and suddenly turn away ashamed.
19 “Go in peace,” he said. So Naaman[a] left.
After Naaman had gone only a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the attendant to Elisha, the man of God, told himself, “Look how my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman! He declined to take from him what he brought. As the Lord lives, I’m going to run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi ran after Naaman.
When Naaman noticed someone running after him, he came down from his chariot, greeted him and asked, “Is everything all right?”[b]
22 Gehazi said, “Everything’s all right. My master sent me to tell you, ‘Just now two men from the Guild of Prophets have arrived from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them each a talent[c] of silver bullion and two sets[d] of clothes.’”
23 But Naaman said, “Please accept my invitation to take two talents[e] of silver.” He urged him, binding two talents[f] of silver in two bags, along with two sets of clothes. He placed them in the care of two of his young men, and they went on ahead of Gehazi.[g] 24 When he arrived at the stronghold, Gehazi[h] took the bags from their custody and hid them away in the house. Then he sent the men away and they left.
25 Later he went to address[i] his master. Elisha asked him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”
“Your servant went nowhere in particular,” he said.
26 But Elisha[j] responded, “Didn’t my heart break[k] as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants? 27 Naaman’s leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!” As he left Elisha’s presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.
28 When they heard this, they became furious and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with confusion, and the people[a] rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s fellow travelers from Macedonia. 30 Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. 31 Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater.
32 Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, since the crowd was confused, and most of them didn’t know why they were meeting. 33 Some of the crowd concluded it was because of Alexander, since the Jews had pushed him to the front. So Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they found out that he was a Jew, they all started to shout in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who in the world[b] doesn’t know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?[c] 36 Since these things cannot be denied, you must be quiet and not do anything reckless. 37 For you have brought these men here, although they neither rob temples nor blaspheme our[d] goddess. 38 So if Demetrius and his workers have a charge against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They should accuse one another there. 39 But if you want anything else, it must be settled in the regular assembly, 40 because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.