Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Happy Home
A song for going up to worship.
128 Happy are those who respect the Lord and obey him.
2 You will enjoy what you work for,
and you will be blessed with good things.
3 Your wife will give you many children,
like a vine that produces much fruit.
Your children will bring you much good,
like olive branches that produce many olives.
4 This is how the man who respects the Lord
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion;
may you enjoy the good things of Jerusalem all your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
The Fall of Jericho
6 The people of Jericho were afraid because the Israelites were near. They closed the city gates and guarded them. No one went into the city, and no one came out.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its fighting men. 3 March around the city with your army once a day for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets made from horns of male sheep and have them march in front of the Ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times and have the priests blow the trumpets as they march. 5 They will make one long blast on the trumpets. When you hear that sound, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the walls of the city will fall so the people can go straight into the city.”
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, “Carry the Ark of the Agreement. Tell seven priests to carry trumpets and march in front of it.” 7 Then Joshua ordered the people, “Now go! March around the city. The soldiers with weapons should march in front of the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord.”
8 When Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests began marching before the Lord. They carried the seven trumpets and blew them as they marched. The priests carrying the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord followed them. 9 Soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests, and armed men walked behind the Ark. The priests were blowing their trumpets. 10 But Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, “Don’t shout. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you. Then shout.” 11 So Joshua had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city one time. Then they went back to camp for the night.
12 Early the next morning Joshua got up, and the priests carried the Ark of the Lord again. 13 The seven priests carried the seven trumpets and marched in front of the Ark of the Lord, blowing their trumpets. Soldiers with weapons marched in front of them, and other soldiers walked behind the Ark of the Lord. All this time the priests were blowing their trumpets. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city one time and then went back to camp. They did this every day for six days.
15 On the seventh day they got up at dawn and marched around the city, just as they had on the days before. But on that day they marched around the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord has given you this city!
20 When the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the people’s shout, the walls fell, and everyone ran straight into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city.
Barnabas and Saul Are Chosen
13 In the church at Antioch there were these prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (also called Niger), Lucius (from the city of Cyrene), Manaen (who had grown up with Herod, the ruler), and Saul. 2 They were all worshiping the Lord and fasting[a] for a certain time. During this time the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to do a special work for which I have chosen them.”
3 So after they fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on[b] Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.
Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus
4 Barnabas and Saul, sent out by the Holy Spirit, went to the city of Seleucia. From there they sailed to the island of Cyprus. 5 When they came to Salamis, they preached the Good News of God in the synagogues. John Mark was with them to help.
6 They went across the whole island to Paphos where they met a magician named Bar-Jesus. He was a false prophet 7 who always stayed close to Sergius Paulus, the governor and a smart man. He asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him, because he wanted to hear the message of God. 8 But Elymas, the magician, was against them. (Elymas is the name for Bar-Jesus in the Greek language.) He tried to stop the governor from believing in Jesus. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked straight at Elymas 10 and said, “You son of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of evil tricks and lies, always trying to change the Lord’s truths into lies. 11 Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun.”
Then everything became dark for Elymas, and he walked around, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the governor saw this, he believed because he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.