Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
71 Lord, I depend on you for protection.
Don’t let me be disappointed.
2 You always do what is right, so come and save me.
Listen to me and save me.
3 Be my Rock, my place of safety.
Be my fortress, and protect me!
You are my Rock and my protection.
4 My God, save me from wicked people.
Save me from cruel, evil people.
5 Lord God, you are my hope.
I have trusted you since I was a young boy.
6 I depended on you even before I was born.
I relied on you even in my mother’s womb.
I have always prayed to you.[a]
20 “Why do you bring me incense from the country of Sheba[a]?
Why do you bring me sweet-smelling cane from a faraway country?
Your burnt offerings don’t make me happy.
Your sacrifices don’t please me.”
21 So this is what the Lord says:
“I will give the people of Judah problems.
They will be like stones that make people fall.
Fathers and sons will stumble over them.
Friends and neighbors will die.”
22 This is what the Lord says:
“An army is coming from the north.[b]
A great nation is coming from faraway places on earth.
23 The soldiers carry bows and spears.
They are cruel; they have no mercy.
They are so powerful.
They sound like the roaring ocean as they ride their horses.
That army is coming, ready for battle.
It is coming to attack you, Jerusalem.[c]”
24 We have heard the news about that army,
and we are paralyzed with fear.
We feel trapped by our troubles,
in pain like a woman giving birth.
25 Don’t go out into the fields.
Don’t go on the roads
because the enemy has swords,
and there is danger everywhere.
26 My people, put on sackcloth
and roll in the ashes.[d]
Cry loudly for the dead.
Cry as if you lost an only son.
Do this because the destroyer
will come against us very quickly.
27 “Jeremiah, I want you to be
like a worker who tests metals.
You will test my people
and watch how they live.
28 My people have turned against me,
and they are very stubborn.
They say bad things about people.
They are like bronze and iron
that are covered with rust and tarnish.
29 They are like a worker who tried to make silver pure.
The bellows[e] blew strongly, and the fire became hotter,
but only lead came from the fire.[f]
The worker wasted his time
trying to make that silver pure.
In the same way the evil was not removed from my people.
30 My people will be called ‘Rejected Silver.’
They will be given that name because the Lord did not accept them.”
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
17 Paul and Silas traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to the city of Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul went into the synagogue to see the Jews as he always did. The next three weeks, on each Sabbath day, he discussed the Scriptures with them. 3 He explained the Scriptures to show them that the Messiah had to die and then rise from death. He said, “This Jesus that I am telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews there believed Paul and Silas and decided to join them. Also, a large number of Greeks who were worshipers of the true God and many important women joined them.
5 But the Jews who did not believe became jealous, so they got some bad men from around the city center to make trouble. They formed a mob and caused a riot in the city. They went to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out before the people. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the other believers to the city leaders. The people shouted, “These men have made trouble everywhere in the world, and now they have come here too! 7 Jason is keeping them in his house. They all do things against the laws of Caesar. They say there is another king called Jesus.”
8 When the city leaders and the other people heard this, they became very upset. 9 They made Jason and the other believers deposit money to guarantee that there would be no more trouble. Then they let them go.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International