Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 128
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Those who stand in awe of the Eternal—
who follow wherever He leads, committed in their hearts—experience His blessings!
2 God will use your hard work to provide you food.
You will prosper in your labor, and it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a healthy vine producing plenty of fruit,
a spring of life in your home.
Your children will be like young olive shoots;
you will watch them bud and bloom around your table.
4 Such are the blessings the Eternal lavishes
on those who stand in awe of Him!
5 May the Eternal continue to pour out His love on you,
showering down blessings from His holy mountain, Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all your days.
6 May you have the privilege of seeing your grandchildren as they grow.
May peace flourish in Israel!
6 The citizens of Jericho had barricaded themselves behind its high walls because of the Israelite forces. No one could get in or out.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 2 I have given Jericho, its king, and all its soldiers into your hands. 3 Every day for the next six days, you will march once around the city walls with all your fighting force. 4 Seven priests will go in front of the covenant chest, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. On the seventh day, you will march around the city walls seven times, and the priests will blow their trumpets. 5 When they play a long final blast, then all the people will give a mighty shout. The city walls will collapse in front of you, and all the Israelites will charge in and take the city.
6 So Joshua, the son of Nun, summoned the priests and instructed them.
Joshua: Take up the chest and have seven priests, each carrying a ram’s horn trumpet, march in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal.
7 Then he gave orders to the people.
Joshua: March around the city with the fighting men marching ahead of the chest of the Eternal.
8-9 So they all proceeded as Joshua had commanded them. The fighting men led the way; the seven priests marched after them, blowing their horns continually in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal, and the rear guard followed behind.
10 Joshua gave the Israelites very strict instructions.
Joshua: Don’t yell or shout. Don’t let your voice be heard until the day I tell you. And then I want you to shout with all your might.
11 So they circled the city once, carrying the covenant chest of the Eternal, and that night they returned to their camp. 12 The next morning, Joshua rose early, the priests carried the chest of the Eternal, 13-14 and they all marched around the city in exactly the same order as they had the day before: the armed men, seven trumpeting priests, the chest of the Eternal, and the rear guard, all making one complete circuit around the city with its great walls. That night they returned to their camp, and the next four days proceeded just like the first two.
15 But on the seventh day, they rose with the sun and the procession marched around the city walls seven times; that was the only day they made seven circuits around the city walls. 16 After the seventh and final circuit, when the priests had raised a mighty noise on their trumpets, Joshua turned to the people.
Joshua: Shout! Shout! For the Eternal One has given you the city!
20 Then the people shouted, and the trumpets blasted. The noise of the voices and trumpets rose higher and higher, and the thick walls of Jericho collapsed, just as God had promised. When the wall fell before them, they rushed straight ahead and took the city,
After Barnabas and Saul help deliver the relief fund to Jerusalem (11:29–30), the three men return to Antioch. With this trip by Saul (who will shortly be renamed Paul) back to Antioch, Luke’s emphasis for the rest of the book shifts away from Peter and the church in Jerusalem to focus on Paul and his mission to spread the good news to Jews and outsiders throughout the northern Mediterranean area.
13 The church in Antioch had grown strong, with many prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (a dark man from Central Africa), Lucius (from Cyrene in North Africa), Manaen (a member of Herod’s governing council), and Saul. 2 Once they were engaged in a time of worship and fasting when the Holy Spirit spoke to them, “Commission Barnabas and Saul to a project I have called them to accomplish.” 3 They fasted and prayed some more, laid their hands on the two selected men, and sent them off on their new mission. 4 Having received special commissioning by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to nearby Seleucia on the coast. Then they caught a ship to the island of Cyprus.
5 At the city of Salamis on the east side of Cyprus, they proclaimed the message of God in Jewish synagogues, assisted by John Mark. 6-7 They went westward from town to town, finally reaching Paphos on the western shore. There the proconsul named Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear their message. At his side was an occult spiritualist and Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus 8 or Elymas (which means “magician”). Elymas argued with Barnabas and Saul, trying to keep Sergius Paulus from coming to faith.
9 Saul, who is also known as Paul, was suddenly full of the Holy Spirit. He stared directly into Elymas’s face.
Paul: 10 You’re a son of the devil. You’re an enemy of justice, you’re full of lies, and you steal opportunities from others. Why do you insist on confusing and twisting the clear, straight paths of the Lord? 11 Hear this, Elymas: the Lord’s hand is against you, and you will be as blind as a bat for a period of time, beginning right now!
At that instant, it was as if a mist came over Elymas and then total darkness. He stumbled around, groping for a hand so he could be led back home. 12 When Sergius Paulus saw this happen, he came to faith and was attracted to and amazed by the teaching about the Lord.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.