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.

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

⁴ And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau: Thy slave Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now;

⁵ and I have oxen and asses, flocks, and menslaves, and womenslaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he comes to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep and the cows and the camels, into two bands

⁸ and said, If Esau comes to the one company and smites it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

⁹ ¶ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said unto me, Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee.

¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy slave; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands.

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he come and smite me and the mother with the children.

¹² And thou hast said, I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³ ¶ And he lodged there that same night and took of that which came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother:

¹⁴ two hundred she goats and twenty he goats, two hundred sheep and twenty rams,

¹⁵ thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.

¹⁶ And he delivered them into the hand of his slaves, every drove by themselves and said unto his slaves, Pass before me and put a space between drove and drove.

¹⁷ And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau, my brother, meets thee and asks thee, saying, Whose art thou? And where goest thou? And for whom are these before thee?

¹⁸ Then thou shalt say, They are thy slave Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau; and, behold, also he is behind us.

¹⁹ And so commanded he the second and the third and all that followed those droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau when ye find him.

²⁰ And ye shall also say, Behold, thy slave Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will reconcile his wrath with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.

²¹ So the present went over before him, and he lodged that night in the company.

³⁷ ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized each one of you into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹ For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.

⁴¹ So that those who gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

⁴² ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

⁴³ And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

⁴⁴ And all that believed were together and had all things common

⁴⁵ and sold their possessions and property and distributed them to everyone, as each one had need.

⁴⁶ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food together with gladness and singleness of heart,

⁴⁷ praising God and having grace with all the people. And the Lord added to the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} daily such as should be saved.