Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
20 I have (A)found My servant David;
With My holy (B)oil I have anointed him,
21 With whom (C)My hand will be established;
My arm also will (D)strengthen him.
22 The enemy will not [a]deceive him,
Nor will the [b](E)son of wickedness afflict him.
23 But I will (F)crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
24 My (G)faithfulness and My favor will be with him,
And in My name his (H)horn will be exalted.
25 I will also place his hand (I)on the sea,
And his right hand on the rivers.
26 He will call to Me, ‘You are (J)my Father,
My God, and the (K)rock of my salvation.’
27 I will also make him My (L)firstborn,
The (M)highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain My (N)favor for him forever,
And My (O)covenant shall be confirmed to him.
29 So I will establish his [c](P)descendants forever,
And his (Q)throne (R)as the days of heaven.
30 “If his sons (S)abandon My Law
And do not walk in My judgments,
31 If they [d]violate My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
32 Then I will punish their wrongdoing with the (T)rod,
And their guilt with [e]afflictions.
33 But I will not [f]withhold (U)My favor from him,
Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.
34 I will not [g]violate My (V)covenant,
Nor will I (W)alter [h]the utterance of My lips.
35 [i]Once I have (X)sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36 His [j](Y)descendants shall endure forever,
And his (Z)throne (AA)as the sun before Me.
37 It shall be established forever (AB)like the moon,
And a (AC)witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah
David’s Family Enlarged
14 (A)Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, masons, and carpenters, to build a house for him. 2 And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted, for the sake of His people Israel.
Paul in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in (A)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning (B)in the synagogue with the Jews and (C)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were [a]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could (D)this [b]scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching (E)Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they (F)took him and brought him [c]to the [d](G)Areopagus, saying, “May we know what (H)this new teaching is [e]which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers (I)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Sermon on Mars Hill
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [f]Areopagus and said, “Men of (J)Athens, I see that you are very (K)religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the (L)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what (M)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 (N)The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is (O)Lord of heaven and earth, does not (P)dwell in temples made by hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, (Q)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and (R)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having (S)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, (T)though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for (U)in Him we live and move and [g]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we (V)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. 30 So having (W)overlooked (X)the times of ignorance, God is (Y)now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, 31 because He has set (Z)a day on which (AA)He will judge [h](AB)the world in righteousness [i]through a Man whom He has (AC)appointed, having furnished proof to all people [j]by (AD)raising Him from the dead.”
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