Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 86

A Prayer of David.

¹ Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and distressed, needy and desiring.

² Preserve my life, for I am godly and dedicated; O my God, save Your servant, for I trust in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, without fear or doubt].

³ Be merciful and gracious to me, O Lord, for to You do I cry all the day.

⁴ Make me, Your servant, to rejoice, O Lord, for to You do I lift myself up.

⁵ For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our trespasses, sending them away, letting them go completely and forever]; and You are abundant in mercy and loving-kindness to all those who call upon You.

⁶ Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and listen to the cry of my supplications.

⁷ In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me.

⁸ There is none like unto You among the gods, O Lord, neither are their works like unto Yours.

⁹ All nations whom You have made shall come and fall down before You, O Lord; and they shall glorify Your name.

¹⁰ For You are great and work wonders! You alone are God.

35 And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. And make there an altar to God Who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled from the presence of Esau your brother.^(A)

² Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, Put away the [images of] strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves and change [into fresh] garments;

³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to God Who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me wherever I went.

⁴ So they [both young men and women] gave to Jacob all the strange gods they had and their earrings which were [worn as charms against evil] in their ears; and Jacob buried and hid them under the oak near Shechem.

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up and all who were his supporters, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and being filled with ^[a]jealousy and indignation and rage,

¹⁸ They seized and arrested the apostles (special messengers) and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and, leading them out, said,

²⁰ Go, take your stand in the temple courts and declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning this Life (the eternal life which Christ revealed).

²¹ And when they heard this, they accordingly went into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now the high priest and his supporters who were with him arrived and called together the council (Sanhedrin), even all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have [the apostles] brought.

²² But when the attendants arrived there, they failed to find them in the jail; so they came back and reported,

²³ We found the prison quite safely locked up and the guards were on duty outside the doors, but when we opened [it], we found no one on the inside.

²⁴ Now when the military leader of the temple area and the chief priests heard these facts, they were much perplexed and thoroughly at a loss about them, wondering into what this might grow.

²⁵ But some man came and reported to them, saying, Listen! The men whom you put in jail are standing [right here] in the temple and teaching the people!

²⁶ Then the military leader went with the attendants and brought [the prisoners], but without violence, for they dreaded the people lest they be stoned by them.