Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A prayer for a time of suffering, when anyone feels weak and wants to tell their complaints to the Lord.
102 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for help.
2 Don’t turn away from me when I have troubles.
Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I cry for help.
3 My life is passing away like smoke.
My life is like a fire slowly burning out.
4 My strength is gone—
I am like dry, dying grass.
I even forget to eat.
5 Because of my sadness, I am losing so much weight
that my skin hangs from my bones.
6 I am lonely, like an owl living in the desert,
like an owl living among old ruined buildings.
7 I cannot sleep.
I am like a lonely bird on the roof.
8 My enemies insult me all the time.
They make fun of me and use me as an example in their curses.
9 My great sadness is my only food.
My tears fall into my drink.
10 You were angry with me,
so you picked me up and threw me away.
11 My life is almost finished, like the long shadows at the end of the day.
I am like dry and dying grass.
12 But you, Lord, will rule as king forever!
Your name will continue forever and ever!
13 You will rise up and comfort Zion.
The time has come for you to be kind to Zion.
14 Your servants love her stones.
They love even the dust of that city!
15 The nations will worship the Lord’s name.
All the kings on earth will honor you.
16 The Lord will rebuild Zion,
and people will again see her glory.
17 He will listen to the prayers of those in poverty.
He will not ignore them.
8 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says, “Don’t let your prophets and those who practice magic fool you. Don’t listen to the dreams they have. 9 They are telling lies, and they are saying that their message is from me. But I didn’t send it.” This message is from the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time, I will come to you people who are living in Babylon. I will keep my good promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. 11 I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. 14 I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring you back to this place.”
15 You people might say, “But the Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon.” 16 But this is what the Lord says about your relatives who were not carried away to Babylon. I am talking about the king who is sitting on David’s throne now and all the other people who are still in the city of Jerusalem. 17 The Lord All-Powerful says, “I will soon bring war, hunger, and disease against those who are still in Jerusalem. And I will make them the same as bad figs that are too rotten to eat. 18 I will attack those who are still in Jerusalem with war, hunger, and disease. And I will cause such pain that all the kingdoms of the earth will be frightened at what has happened to those people. They will be destroyed. People will whistle with amazement when they hear what happened. And people will use them as an example when they ask for bad things to happen to people. People will insult them wherever I force them to go. 19 I will make all these things happen because the people of Jerusalem have not listened to my message.” This message is from the Lord. “I sent my message to them again and again. I used my servants, the prophets, to give my messages to them, but they didn’t listen.” This message is from the Lord. 20 “You people are captives. I forced you to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon. So listen to the message from the Lord.”
21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: “These two men have been telling you lies. They have said that their message is from me. I will give these two prophets to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And he will kill them in front of all you who are captives in Babylon. 22 They will be an example of a terrible way to die. Yes, in the future, when the Jewish captives want something bad to happen to someone, they will say this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, those men the king of Babylon burned in the fire!’ 23 They did very bad things among the people of Israel. They committed the sin of adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They also spoke lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do that. I know what they have done. I am a witness.” This message is from the Lord.
Paul Tries to Persuade Agrippa
24 While Paul was still defending himself, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Too much study has made you crazy.”
25 Paul said, “Most Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true. It all makes perfect sense. 26 King Agrippa knows about all this, and I can speak freely to him. I know that he has heard about these things, because they happened where everyone could see them. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe what the prophets wrote? I know you believe!”
28 King Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think you can persuade me to become a ‘Christ-follower’ so easily?”
29 Paul said, “It is not important if it is easy or if it is hard. I pray to God that not only you but that everyone listening to me today could be saved and be just like me—except for these chains I have!”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International