Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁵ My praise shall be of You in the great congregation. I will pay to Him my vows [made in the time of trouble] before them who fear (revere and worship) Him.

²⁶ The poor and afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise the Lord—they who [diligently] seek for, inquire of and for Him, and require Him [as their greatest need]. May your hearts be quickened now and forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall bow down and worship before You,

²⁸ For the kingship and the kingdom are the Lord’s, and He is the ruler over the nations.

²⁹ All the mighty ones upon earth shall eat [in thanksgiving] and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive.

³⁰ Posterity shall serve Him; they shall tell of the Lord to the next generation.

³¹ They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born—that He has done it [that it is finished]!^(A)

8 Thus the Lord God showed to me, and behold, a basket of [ripe and therefore soon to perish] summer fruit.

² And He said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord to me, The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by and spare them any more.

³ And the songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day, says the Lord God. The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast forth in silence.

⁴ Hear this, O you who would swallow up and trample down the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail and come to an end,

⁵ Saying, When will the New Moon festival be past that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale, making the ephah [measure] small and the shekel [measure] great and falsifying the scales by deceit,

⁶ That we may buy [into slavery] the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals; yes, and sell the refuse of the wheat [as if it were good grade]?

⁷ The Lord has sworn by [Himself Who is] the Glory and Pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their [rebellious] deeds.

8 And Saul was [not only] consenting to [Stephen’s] death [he was ^[a]pleased and ^[b]entirely approving]. On that day a great and severe persecution broke out against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles (special messengers).

² [A party of] devout men ^[c]with others helped to carry out and bury Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

³ But Saul shamefully treated and laid waste the church continuously [with cruelty and violence]; and entering house after house, he dragged out men and women and committed them to prison.

⁴ Now those who were scattered abroad went about [through the land from place to place] preaching the glad tidings, the Word [^[d]the doctrine concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God].

⁵ Philip [the deacon, not the apostle] went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (the Messiah) to them [the people];^(A)

⁶ And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Philip, as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing [from time to time].

⁷ For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them, screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health.

⁸ And there was great rejoicing in that city.