Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.[a]
21 My hand will support him,[b]
and my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute[c] from him;[d]
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.[e]
23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,[f]
and by my name he will win victories.[g]
25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.[h]
26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father,[i] my God, and the protector who delivers me.’[j]
27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son,[k]
the most exalted of the earth’s kings.
28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure.[l]
29 I will give him an eternal dynasty,[m]
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above.[n]
30 If his sons reject my law
and disobey my regulations,
31 if they break[o] my rules
and do not keep my commandments,
32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club,[p]
their sin by inflicting them with bruises.[q]
33 But I will not remove[r] my loyal love from him,
nor be unfaithful to my promise.[s]
34 I will not break[t] my covenant
or go back on what I promised.[u]
35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,
I will never deceive[v] David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.[w]
His throne will endure before me, like the sun;[x]
37 it will remain stable, like the moon.[y]
His throne will endure like the skies.”[z] (Selah)
Paul at Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset[a] because he saw[b] the city was full of idols. 17 So he was addressing[c] the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles[d] in the synagogue,[e] and in the marketplace[f] every day[g] those who happened to be there. 18 Also some of the Epicurean[h] and Stoic[i] philosophers were conversing[j] with him, and some were asking,[k] “What does this foolish babbler[l] want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.”[m] (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)[n] 19 So they took Paul and[o] brought him to the Areopagus,[p] saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some surprising things[q] to our ears, so we want to know what they[r] mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time[s] in nothing else than telling[t] or listening to something new.)[u]
22 So Paul stood[v] before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious[w] in all respects.[x] 23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship,[y] I even found an altar with this inscription:[z] ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it,[aa] this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it,[ab] who is[ac] Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,[ad] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything,[ae] because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone.[af] 26 From one man[ag] he made every nation of the human race[ah] to inhabit the entire earth,[ai] determining their set times[aj] and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,[ak] 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around[al] for him and find him,[am] though he is[an] not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about[ao] and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’[ap] 29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity[aq] is like gold or silver or stone, an image[ar] made by human[as] skill[at] and imagination.[au] 30 Therefore, although God has overlooked[av] such times of ignorance,[aw] he now commands all people[ax] everywhere to repent,[ay] 31 because he has set[az] a day on which he is going to judge the world[ba] in righteousness, by a man whom he designated,[bb] having provided proof to everyone by raising[bc] him from the dead.”
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