Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of David.
1 ¶ Hear righteousness, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that does not go out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold uprightness.
3 Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast refined me and hast found no iniquity; that which I thought did not pass through my mouth.
4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have observed the ways of the violent.
5 Sustain my steps in thy ways that my footsteps not slip.
6 I have called upon thee, because thou dost hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech.
7 Show thy mercy to be marvellous, O Saviour of those who put their trust in thee, from those that rise up against thy right hand.
15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.
23 Then he took his brethren with him and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in Mount Gilead.
24 And God came to Laban the Aramean in dreams by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
25 ¶ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount; and Laban with his brethren pitched in Mount Gilead.
26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away my heart and carried away my daughters as captives taken with the sword?
27 Why didst thou flee away secretly and steal away from me and didst not tell me that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs with tambourine and with harp?
28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt, but the God of your father spoke unto me last night, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
30 And now, that thou art leaving, because thy desire is after thy father’s house, yet why hast thou stolen my gods?
31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I said, Peradventure thou would take by force thy daughters from me.
32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let them not live; before our brethren discern what is thine with me and take it to thee. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and came to Rachel’s tent.
34 Now Rachel took the images and put them in a camel’s saddle and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent but did not find them.
35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but did not find the images.
36 ¶ Then Jacob was wroth and contended with Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren that they may judge between us both.
38 These twenty years I have been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not aborted their young, and I have not eaten the rams of thy flock.
39 That which was torn of beasts I did not bring unto thee; I bore the sin; thou didst require of my hand that which was stolen, whether by day or by night.
40 By day the drought consumed me, and by night, the frost; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, were not with me, surely thou would send me away now empty. God has seen my affliction and the work of my hands and rebuked thee last night.
8 ¶ First, I thank my God through Jesus, the Christ, regarding you all, that your faith is preached in all the world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I always remember you in my prayers,
10 making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
11 For I long to see you that I may impart with you some spiritual gift to confirm you,
12 that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that many times I purposed to come unto you (but up until now I have been unable) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to announce the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
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