Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord of Power and Justice
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3],
because he has done ·miracles [wonderful acts].
By his right hand and holy arm
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has made known his ·power to save [salvation; victory];
he has ·shown [revealed to] ·the other [L before the eyes of the] nations his ·victory for his people [righteousness].
3 He has remembered his ·love [loyalty]
and his ·loyalty [faithfulness] to the ·people [L house] of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
God’s ·power to save [salvation; victory].
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
·burst into songs [L break forth and sing for joy] and make ·music [a psalm].
5 Make music to the Lord with harps,
with harps and the sound of singing.
6 Blow the trumpets and the ·sheep’s [ram’s] horns;
shout for joy to the Lord the King [47:2; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; Rev. 19:6].
7 Let the sea and ·everything in it [its fullness] ·shout [thunder];
let the world and everyone in it sing.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains sing together for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord,
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world ·fairly [with righteousness];
he will judge the peoples with fairness [96:13].
5 The Lord made me in the ·body [womb] of my mother
to be his servant,
to lead ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob] back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him.
·The Lord will honor me [L I am honored in the eyes of the Lord],
and ·I will get my strength from my God [L God will be my strength].
6 Now he told me,
“·You are an important servant to me [It is too small a thing; or Is it too small a thing…?]
to ·bring back [restore; raise up] the tribes of Jacob,
to bring back the ·people of Israel who are left alive [remnant/preserved ones of Israel].
I will make you a light for the nations [42:6; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47]
so that my salvation will reach ·people all over the world [L the end of the earth].”
Peter Teaches Cornelius
10 At Caesarea [C a coastal city, 25 miles south of Mount Carmel; a center of Roman government for Palestine] there was a man named Cornelius, ·an officer [L a centurion; C an officer in charge of about a hundred soldiers] in the Italian ·group of the Roman army [L cohort; regiment; C a cohort was about six hundred soldiers]. 2 Cornelius was a ·religious [pious; godly] man. He and all ·the other people who lived in his house [his household] ·worshiped the true God [L feared God; C “God-fearers” were Gentiles who worshiped the one true God of Israel]. He gave much of his money to ·the poor [or the Jewish people; L the people] and prayed to God often. 3 ·One afternoon about three o’clock [L About the ninth hour of the day], Cornelius clearly saw a vision. An angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at the angel. He ·became afraid [was terrified] and said, “What do you want, ·Lord [or sir]?”
The angel said, “·God has heard your prayers. He has seen that you give to the poor, and he remembers you [L Your prayers and your alms have gone up to God as a memorial/memorial offering]. 5 Send some men now to Joppa [9:36] to bring back a man named Simon who is also called Peter. 6 He is staying [as a guest] with a man, ·also named Simon, who is a tanner [or named Simon Byrseus; 9:43] and has a house beside the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to Cornelius left, Cornelius called two of his ·servants [household slaves/servants] and a soldier, a ·religious [devout; pious; godly] man who ·worked for him [or was on his staff; or was loyal to him]. 8 Cornelius explained everything to them and sent them to Joppa.
9 About ·noon [L the sixth hour] the next day as they ·came near Joppa [L journeyed and drew near the city], Peter was going up to the roof [C in ancient Israel flat roofs were used as living spaces and for storage] to pray. 10 He was hungry and wanted to eat, but while the food was being prepared, he ·had a vision [or fell into a trance]. 11 He saw heaven opened and ·something [an object] coming down that looked like a big sheet being lowered to earth by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of ·animals [L four-footed creatures], reptiles, and birds [L of the air/sky]. 13 Then a voice said to Peter, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”
14 But Peter said, “·No [Absolutely not], Lord! I have never eaten food that is ·unholy [profane; common] or ·unclean [ritually defiled; C the OT food laws differentiated Israelites from Gentiles; Lev. 11; Ezek. 4:13–15].”
15 But the voice said to him again, “God has made these things clean, so don’t call them ·‘unholy’ [‘profane’; ‘common’]!” 16 This happened three times, and at once the ·sheet [L object; thing] was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was ·wondering [perplexed about] what this vision meant, [L look; T behold] the men Cornelius sent had found Simon’s house and were standing at the gate. 18 They asked, “Is ·Simon Peter [L Simon who is called Peter] staying [as a guest] here?”
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “·Listen [L Look; T Behold], three men are looking for you. 20 [So; L But] Get up and go downstairs. Go with them without ·doubting [or hesitation], because I have sent them to you.”
21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are ·looking [searching] for. Why did you come here?”
22 They said, “A holy angel spoke to Cornelius, ·an army officer [L a centurion] and a ·good [righteous] man; he ·worships [L fears] God. ·All the people [L The whole Jewish nation] ·respect [speak well of; L testify to] him. The angel told Cornelius to ask you to come to his house so that he can hear what you have to say.” 23 So Peter ·asked [invited] the men to come in and ·spend the night [L entertained them as guests; C an unusual gesture, since Jews would not normally invite Gentiles into their homes].
The next day Peter got ·ready [up] and went with them, and some of the ·followers [Jewish believers; L brothers] from Joppa joined him. 24 On the following day they came to Caesarea [10:1]. Cornelius was ·waiting for [expecting] them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. 26 But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up. I too am only a ·human [mortal].” 27 As he talked with Cornelius, Peter went inside where he ·saw [L found] many people gathered. 28 He said, “You people understand that it is against our law for Jewish people to associate with or visit anyone who is a ·foreigner [Gentile]. But God has shown me that I should not call any person unholy [profane; common] or unclean [defiled]. 29 That is why I did not ·argue [object] when I was asked to come here. Now, please tell me why you sent for me.”
30 Cornelius said, “Four days ago [10:3], I was praying in my house at this same time—·three o’clock in the afternoon [L at the ninth hour]. Suddenly, there was a man standing before me wearing ·shining [dazzling] clothes. 31 He said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and ·has seen that you give to the poor and remembers you [L your alms have been remembered by/before God]. 32 So send some men to Joppa and ask Simon [L who is called] Peter to come. Peter is staying [as a guest] in the house of a man, ·also named Simon, who is a tanner [or named Simon Byrseus; 9:43] and has a house beside the sea [see 10:5–6].’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was ·very good [kind] of you to come. Now we are all here ·before [in the presence of; or available to] God to hear everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
34 Peter ·began to speak [L opened his mouth]: “I ·really [truly] understand now that ·to God every person is the same [God does not show favoritism/partiality].
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