Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; he protects me from danger—whom shall I fear? ² When evil men come to destroy me, they will stumble and fall! ³ Yes, though a mighty army marches against me, my heart shall know no fear! I am confident that God will save me.

⁴ The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory. ⁵ There I’ll be when troubles come. He will hide me. He will set me on a high rock ⁶ out of reach of all my enemies. Then I will bring him sacrifices and sing his praises with much joy.

⁷ Listen to my pleading, Lord! Be merciful and send the help I need.

⁸ My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me, O my people.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

⁹ Oh, do not hide yourself when I am trying to find you. Do not angrily reject your servant. You have been my help in all my trials before; don’t leave me now. Don’t forsake me, O God of my salvation. ¹⁰ For if my father and mother should abandon me, you would welcome and comfort me.

¹¹ Tell me what to do, O Lord, and make it plain because I am surrounded by waiting enemies. ¹² Don’t let them get me, Lord! Don’t let me fall into their hands! For they accuse me of things I never did, and all the while are plotting cruelty. ¹³ I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see his goodness to me here in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you.

^2-4 Those whose names are written down to escape the destruction of Jerusalem will be washed and rinsed of all their moral filth by the horrors and the fire. They will be God’s holy people.^[a] And the land will produce for them its lushest bounty and its richest fruit. ⁵ Then the Lord will provide shade on all Jerusalem—over every home and all its public grounds—a canopy of smoke and cloud throughout the day, and clouds of fire at night, covering the Glorious Land, ⁶ protecting it from daytime heat and from rains and storms.

11 Soon the news reached the apostles and other brothers in Judea that Gentiles also were being converted! ² But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers argued with him.

³ “You fellowshiped with Gentiles and even ate with them,” they accused.

⁴ Then Peter told them the whole story. ⁵ “One day in Joppa,” he said, “while I was praying, I saw a vision—a huge sheet, let down by its four corners from the sky. ⁶ Inside the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds which we are not to eat.^{[a] 7} And I heard a voice say, ‘Kill and eat whatever you wish.’

⁸ “‘Never, Lord,’ I replied. ‘For I have never yet eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws!’

⁹ “But the voice came again, ‘Don’t say it isn’t right when God declares it is!’

¹⁰ “This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained disappeared into heaven. ¹¹ Just then three men who had come to take me with them to Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying! ¹² The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry about their being Gentiles! These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon arrived at the home of the man who had sent the messengers. ¹³ He told us how an angel had appeared to him and told him to send messengers to Joppa to find Simon Peter! ¹⁴ ‘He will tell you how you and all your household can be saved!’ the angel had told him.

¹⁵ “Well, I began telling them the Good News, but just as I was getting started with my sermon, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning! ¹⁶ Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘Yes, John baptized with^[b] water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ And since it was God who gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to argue?”

¹⁸ When the others heard this, all their objections were answered and they began praising God! “Yes,” they said, “God has given to the Gentiles, too, the privilege of turning to him and receiving eternal life!”