Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 71
Do Not Throw Me Away When I Am Old
Opening Prayer
1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
May I not be put to shame forever.
2 In your righteousness rescue me and deliver me.
Turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock and my refuge to which I can always go.
You give the command to save me,
because you are my high ridge and my stronghold.
4 My God, deliver me from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and the ruthless.
Remembrance of Past Help
5 For you have been my hope, Lord God,
my confidence since my youth.
6 I have depended on[a] you since I was in the womb.
You separated me from my mother’s body.
My praise to you is continuous.
20 What use to me is incense from Sheba
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not appealing to me.
Your sacrifices do not please me.
21 Therefore this is what the Lord says.
Look, I am going to place obstacles in front of this people.
Parents and children alike will stumble over them.
Friends and neighbors will perish.
22 This is what the Lord says.
Look, a nation is coming from a land in the north.
A great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 Its warriors grip bows and spears.
They are cruel and merciless.
They sound like the roaring sea.
They ride horses, arranged like soldiers ready for battle
against you, O daughter of Zion.
The People of Judah
24 We have heard the news about them,
and our hands hang limp.
Anguish grips us like a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out to the field.
Do not walk on the road,
because the enemy has a sword.
There is terror on every side.
26 Put on sackcloth, daughter of my people.
Roll in ashes.
Mourn as you would for an only son,
because suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
The Lord
27 I have made you like someone who tests metals.
My people are the ore that is being tested.
Observe them,
and examine their ways.
28 They are all stubborn rebels,
walking in slander.
They are as hard as bronze and iron,
and all of them are contaminated.
29 The bellows blows hot to melt away the refining agent[a] with fire.
The refining agent is completely used up, but the evil is not removed.
30 They are classified as rejected silver,
because the Lord has rejected them.
In Thessalonica
17 When Paul and Silas had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went to the Jews, and on three Sabbath days he led them in a discussion from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. He also said, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great number of God-fearing Greeks and more than a few of the prominent women.
5 But the Jews[a] became jealous and gathered from the marketplace some wicked men, who formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house and searched for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the mob. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men, who have stirred up trouble all over the world, have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, Jesus!” 8 The crowd and the city officials were stirred up when they heard these things. 9 They took a security bond from Jason and the others and then let them go.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.