Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 120
A Man of Peace
Heading
A song of the ascents.[a]
A Man of Peace
1 In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
2 Lord, save my life from lying lips.
Save me from deceitful tongues.
3 What will he give to you?
What more will he add to you, you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharpened arrows with hot coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe to me that I am an alien in Meshek,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 For too long my soul[b] has dwelt with those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
The Decree of Cyrus
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord given through the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia. Cyrus circulated a proclamation throughout his kingdom and recorded it in a written document.
2 This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
The Lord, the God of Heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me. He has appointed me to build a house[a] for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 From all his people, whoever among you is willing (may the Lord his God be with him) is permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah. He may build the House of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Any of the exiles who have survived, in any place where they are living as resident aliens, may receive support from the people of that place: silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with their voluntary contributions for the House of the God who is in Jerusalem.
Preparations for the Return
5 Then the heads of the families[b] of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites arose—everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the House of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. 6 All of their neighbors supported them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with livestock, and with valuables, in addition to all kinds of voluntary contributions.
7 King Cyrus also brought out the vessels of the House of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put into the house of his gods. 8 Now Cyrus king of Persia entrusted them to the treasurer Mithredath, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the leader[c] of Judah.
9 This is a tally of several different kinds of vessels:
| gold dishes | 30 |
| silver dishes | 1,000 |
| pans[d] | 29 |
| 10 gold bowls | 30 |
| silver bowls of other kinds | 410 |
| other articles | 1,000 |
11 The total number of all of the gold and silver vessels was 5,400.
Sheshbazzar brought these things up to Jerusalem along with the exiles who went up to Jerusalem.
Paul Explains a Change in Plans
12 Indeed, this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with God-given holiness[a] and sincerity, not with the wisdom of the flesh, but rather in God’s grace—especially toward you. 13 In fact, we are not writing you anything other than what you read or also understand. And I hope you will understand completely— 14 as you have also understood us in part—that on the day of our Lord Jesus we are going to be your reason for boasting, just as you are our reason.
15 In this confidence, I was planning to visit you first, so that you would have a second gracious gift. 16 Then I planned to travel from you on to Macedonia, and to return again from Macedonia to you to receive help from you on my way to Judea. 17 So when I made this plan, I did not do it lightly, did I? Or the things I plan, am I planning them the way the sinful flesh does, so that I would be saying both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
18 As surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us (by me, Silas,[b] and Timothy), was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him the “Yes” stands firm.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.