Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

³ Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: This is what your servant Jacob says, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now. ⁵ I have oxen and donkeys, flocks, and male servants and female servants, and I am sending this message to tell my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”

⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and what is more, four hundred men are with him.”

⁷ Then Jacob was very afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him, along with the flocks and herds and the camels, into two groups. ⁸ He said, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the other camp which is left may escape.”

⁹ And 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 relatives, and I will prosper you,’ ¹⁰ I am not worthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant. For with my staff I crossed over this Jordan, and now I have become two encampments. ¹¹ Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau. For I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. ¹² You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too many to be counted.’ ”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty female camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He gave them to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep a distance between each drove.”

¹⁷ He commanded the one leading, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals belong?’ ¹⁸ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is also behind us.’ ”

¹⁹ Likewise 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 find him. ²⁰ Moreover, say, ‘Your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes before me, and then I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the gift went before him, but he lodged that night in the encampment.

³⁷ When they heard this, they were stung in the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Life Among the Believers

⁴² They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. ⁴³ Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ All who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. ⁴⁶ And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.