Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 Bless our God, people,
and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He gives us life
and does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, tested us,
to purify us like fine silver.
11 You have led us into a trap[a]
and set burdens on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over us.[b]
You brought us through fire and water,
but you led us to abundance.
13 I will come to your house with burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you
14 that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat,
along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams.
I will offer bulls along with goats.
16 Come and listen, all of you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 I called aloud to him
and praised him with my tongue.
18 Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not listen to me.
19 Surely God has heard,
and he paid attention to my[c] prayers.
20 Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers
nor his gracious love from me.
God Decides to Destroy the World
5 The Lord saw that human evil was growing more and more throughout the earth, with every inclination of people’s thoughts[a] becoming only evil on a continuous basis. 6 Then the Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and he was deeply grieved about that.[b] 7 So the Lord said, “I will annihilate these human beings whom I’ve created from the[c] earth, including people, animals, crawling things, and flying creatures, because I’m grieving that I made them.” 8 However, the Lord was pleased with Noah.
Noah Obeys God
9 These are the family records[d] of Noah: Noah was a righteous man. Blameless during his times,[e] Noah communed[f] with God. 10 Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 By this time, the earth had become ruined in God’s opinion[g] and filled with violence. 12 God looked at the earth, observing how corrupt its population had become, because the entire human race[h] had corrupted itself.[i] 13 So God announced to Noah, “I’ve decided to destroy every living thing on earth,[j] because it has become filled with violence due to them. Look! I’m about to annihilate them, along with the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark out of cedar,[k] constructing compartments in it, and cover it inside and out with tar. 15 Make the ark like this: 300 cubits[l] long, 50 cubits[m] wide, and 30 cubits[n] high. 16 Make a roof[o] for the ark, and finish the walls[p] to within one cubit[q] from the top.[r] Place the entrance in the side of the ark, and build a lower, a middle, and an upper deck.
17 “For my part, I’m about to flood the earth with water and destroy every living thing[s] that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 However, I will establish my own covenant with you, and you are to enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19 You are to bring two of every living thing[t] into the ark so they may remain alive with you. They are to be male and female. 20 From birds according to their species,[u] from domestic animals according to their species,[v] and from everything that crawls on the ground according to their species[w]—two of everything will come to you so they may remain alive. 21 For your part, take some of the edible food and store it away—these stores will be food for you and the animals.”[x]
22 Noah did all of this, precisely as[y] God had commanded.
Paul Sails for Rome
27 When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were transferred to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the emperor’s division. 2 After boarding a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the ports on the coast of Asia, we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.
3 The next day, we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly, allowing him to visit his friends there and to receive any care he needed. 4 After putting out from there, we sailed on the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 We sailed along the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia and reached Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on it. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind was against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete off Cape Salome. 8 Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. 9 Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship,[a] 10 “Men, I see that during this voyage there will be hardship and a heavy loss not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives.”
11 But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship and not by what Paul said. 12 Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest.
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