Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁹ The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation).

¹⁰ And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].^(A)

¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, Who dwells in Zion! Declare among the peoples His doings!

¹² For He Who avenges the blood [of His people shed unjustly] remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted (the poor and the humble).

¹³ Have mercy upon me and be gracious to me, O Lord; consider how I am afflicted by those who hate me, You Who lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴ That I may show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your praises! In the gates of the Daughter of Zion I will rejoice in Your salvation and Your saving help.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot caught.

¹⁶ The Lord has made Himself known; He executes judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion [meditation]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned back [headlong into premature death] into Sheol (the place of the departed spirits of the wicked), even all the nations that forget or are forgetful of God.

¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the expectation and hope of the meek and the poor shall not perish forever.

¹⁹ Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before You.

²⁰ Put them in fear [make them realize their frail nature], O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell.

⁵⁶ And the king said, Inquire whose son the stripling is.

⁵⁷ When David returned from killing Goliath the Philistine, Abner brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.

18 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own life.

² Saul took David that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.

³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own life.

⁴ And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, even his sword, his bow, and his girdle.

⁵ And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he prospered and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was satisfactory both to the people and to Saul’s servants.

21 And when we had torn ourselves away from them and withdrawn, we set sail and made a straight run to Cos, and on the following [day came] to Rhodes and from there to Patara.

² There we found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia; so we went aboard and sailed away.

³ After we had sighted Cyprus, leaving it on our left we sailed on to Syria and put in at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

⁴ And having looked up the disciples there, we remained with them for seven days. Prompted by the [Holy] Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵ But when our time there was ended, we left and proceeded on our journey; and all of them with their wives and children accompanied us on our way till we were outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed.

⁶ Then when we had told one another farewell, we went on board the ship, and they returned to their own homes.

⁷ When we had completed the voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we paid our respects to the brethren and remained with them for one day.

⁸ On the morrow we left there and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven [first deacons], and stayed with him.^(A)

⁹ And he had four maiden daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰ While we were remaining there for some time, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹ And coming to [see] us, he took Paul’s belt and with it bound his own feet and hands and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit: The Jews at Jerusalem shall bind like this the man who owns this belt, and they shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles (heathen).

¹² When we heard this, both we and the residents of that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³ Then Paul replied, What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart like this? For I hold myself in readiness not only to be arrested and bound and imprisoned at Jerusalem, but also [even] to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁴ And when he would not yield to [our] persuading, we stopped [urging and imploring him], saying, The Lord’s will be done!

¹⁵ After these days we packed our baggage and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ And some of the disciples from Caesarea came with us, conducting us to the house of Mnason, a man from Cyprus, one of the disciples of long standing, with whom we were to lodge.