Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
20 I found David my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him.
21 He is the one whom my hand will sustain.
Surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will subject him to tribute.
No violent man will oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and mercy will be with him,
and through my name his horn[a] will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, “You are my Father,
my God and the Rock that saves me.”
27 I will also make him the Firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will keep my mercy for him forever,
and my covenant with him will stand firm.
29 I will establish his seed forever.
His throne will endure like the days of the heavens.
The Terms of the Covenant
30 If his sons forsake my law,
and they do not walk according to my judgments,
31 if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commands,
32 I will punish their rebellion with the rod, their guilt with whipping.
33 But I will not break off my mercy from him.
I will not let my truth become false.
34 I will not violate my covenant.
I will not alter what comes out of my lips.
35 Once and for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
surely I will not lie to David—
36 that his seed will continue forever,
and his throne will endure before me like the sun.
37 It will be established forever like the moon. Interlude
This witness in the sky is faithful.
Events of David’s Reign
14 Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him. 2 David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel because his kingdom had been lifted high for the sake of his people Israel.
In Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was very distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he led a discussion in the synagogue with the Jews and those who feared God, as well as with those who happened to be in the marketplace every day.
18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this seed picker[a] trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be someone who is proclaiming foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
19 They took him and brought him to the council of the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are talking about? 20 You seem to be bringing in some ideas that are strange to our ears, so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there enjoyed doing nothing more than telling or listening to something new.)
22 Then Paul stood up in front of the council of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 For as I was walking around and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which had been inscribed, ‘To an unknown god.’ Now what you worship as unknown—this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made with hands. 25 Neither is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, since he himself gives all people life and breath and everything they have. 26 From one man,[b] he made every nation of mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed times and the boundaries where they would live. 27 He did this so they would seek God[c] and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[d] As some of your own poets have said, ‘Indeed, we are also his offspring.’[e]
29 “Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and planning. 30 Although God overlooked the times of ignorance, he is now commanding all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.