Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of Faith in Time of Distress
To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. (A)On [a]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (B)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
O Lord, (C)heal me, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly (D)troubled;
But You, O Lord—how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver me!
Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
5 (E)For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is (A)no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take (B)a gift from your servant.”
16 But he said, (C)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, (D)I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
17 So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. 18 Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and (E)he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”
19 Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.
The Riot at Ephesus
21 (A)When these things were accomplished, Paul (B)purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through (C)Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, (D)I must also see Rome.” 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, (E)Timothy and (F)Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.
23 And (G)about that time there arose a great commotion about (H)the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [a]Diana, brought (I)no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. 26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that (J)they are not gods which are made with hands. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and [b]her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.