Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 86
Supplication for Help against Enemies
A Prayer of David.
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.(A)
2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God;(B) 3 be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all day long.(C)
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.(D)
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.(E)
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my cry of supplication.(F)
7 In the day of my trouble I call on you,
for you will answer me.(G)
Jacob Returns to Bethel
35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”(A) 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes;(B) 3 then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”(C) 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.(D)
The Apostles Are Persecuted
17 Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, 18 arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.(A) 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said,(B) 20 “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”(C) 21 When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.
When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought.(D) 22 But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.(E) 25 Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” 26 Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.(F)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.