Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

¹ Hear the right (my righteous cause), O Lord; listen to my shrill, piercing cry! Give ear to my prayer, that comes from unfeigned and guileless lips.

² Let my sentence of vindication come from You! May Your eyes behold the things that are just and upright.

³ You have proved my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and find nothing [no evil purpose in me]; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

⁴ Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent (the paths of the destroyer).

⁵ My steps have held closely to Your paths [to the tracks of the One Who has gone on before]; my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I have called upon You, O God, for You will hear me; incline Your ear to me and hear my speech.

⁷ Show Your marvelous loving-kindness, O You Who save by Your right hand those who trust and take refuge in You from those who rise up against them.

¹⁵ As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

³ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

⁴ And he commanded them, Say this to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living temporarily with Laban and have stayed there till now.

⁵ And I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find mercy and kindness in your sight.

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau; and now he is [on the way] to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.

⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups,

⁸ Thinking, If Esau comes to the one group and smites it, then the other group which is left will escape.

⁹ Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good,

¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.

¹² And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³ And Jacob lodged there that night and took from what he had with him as a present for his brother Esau:

¹⁴ Two hundred she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

¹⁵ Thirty milk camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 she-donkeys, and 10 [donkey] colts.

¹⁶ And he put them into the charge of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me and put a space between drove and drove.

¹⁷ And he commanded the first, When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, where you are going, and whose are the animals before you,

¹⁸ Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover, he is behind us.

¹⁹ And so he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, This is what you are to say to Esau when you meet him.

²⁰ And say, Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.

²¹ So the present went on before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were stung (cut) to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles (special messengers), Brethren, what shall we do?

³⁸ And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself.^(A)

⁴⁰ And [Peter] ^[a]solemnly and earnestly witnessed (testified) and admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking and warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved from this crooked (perverse, wicked, unjust) generation.

⁴¹ Therefore those who accepted and welcomed his message were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.

⁴² And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles, to the breaking of bread [including the Lord’s Supper] and prayers.

⁴³ And a sense of awe (reverential fear) came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were performed through the apostles (the special messengers).

⁴⁴ And all who believed (who adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus Christ) were united and [together] they had everything in common;

⁴⁵ And they sold their possessions (both their landed property and their movable goods) and distributed the price among all, according as any had need.

⁴⁶ And day after day they regularly assembled in the temple with united purpose, and in their homes they broke bread [including the Lord’s Supper]. They partook of their food with gladness and simplicity and generous hearts,

⁴⁷ Constantly praising God and being in favor and goodwill with all the people; and the Lord kept adding [to their number] daily those who were being saved [from spiritual death].