Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
9
The Lord also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble;
10
And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.(A)
11
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His [great and wondrous] deeds.
12
For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people);
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.
13
Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;
See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14
That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
15
The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16
The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.
17
The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.
18
For the poor will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.
19
Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.
20
Put them in [reverent] [a]fear of You, O Lord,
So that the nations may know they are but [frail and mortal] men. Selah.
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and terrified him. 15 Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are here before you to find a man who plays skillfully on the harp; and when the evil spirit from God is on you, he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul told his servants, “Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a brave and competent man, a warrior, discerning (prudent, eloquent) in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the flock.” 20 Jesse took a donkey [loaded with] bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul with David his son. 21 Then David came to Saul and attended him. Saul loved him greatly and [later] David became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David [a]be my attendant, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 So it came about that whenever the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, David took a harp and played it with his hand; so Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Paul in Macedonia and Greece
20 After the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them he told them goodbye, and set off to go to [a]Macedonia. 2 After he had gone through those districts and had encouraged the believers, he came to Greece. 3 And he stayed three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia (northern Greece). 4 He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and were waiting for us (including Luke) at Troas. 6 We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread (Passover week), and within five days we reached them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
7 Now on the first day of the week (Sunday), when we were gathered together to break bread (share communion), Paul began talking with them, intending to leave the next day; and he kept on with his message until midnight. 8 Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were assembled, 9 and there was a young man named Eutychus (“Lucky”) sitting on the window sill. He was sinking into a deep sleep, and as Paul [b]kept on talking longer and longer, he was completely overcome by sleep and fell down from the third story; and he was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down and threw himself on him and embraced him, and said [to those standing around him], “Do not be troubled, because [c]he is alive.” 11 When Paul had gone back upstairs and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked [informally and confidentially] with them for a long time—until daybreak [in fact]—and then he left. 12 They took the boy [Eutychus] home alive, and were greatly comforted and encouraged.
Troas to Miletus
13 But we went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go [a shorter route] by land. 14 So when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and sailed on to Mitylene. 15 Sailing from there, we arrived the next day [at a point] opposite Chios; the following day we crossed over to Samos, and the next day we arrived at Miletus [about 30 miles south of Ephesus]. 16 Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus so that he would not end up spending time [unnecessarily] in [the province of] Asia (modern Turkey); for he was in a hurry to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of [d]Pentecost.
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