Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
40 So the Lord became angry with his people.
They belonged to him
but he turned away from them.
41 He let other nations have power over them.
Their enemies ruled over them.
42 Their enemies had power to hurt them,
and they were cruel to them.
43 Many times, the Lord rescued his people,
but they had decided not to obey him.
Their sins made them weaker and weaker.
44 But the Lord still saw when they were in trouble.
He answered them when they called to him for help.
45 He remembered the covenant that he had made with them.
Because of his faithful love for his people,
he stopped punishing them.
46 He caused all their enemies to be kind to them.
47 Lord, our God, please save us!
Bring us safely home from among the other nations.[a]
Then we will thank you!
We will shout aloud to praise your holy name.
48 Praise the Lord, Israel's God,
as he deserves!
Praise him now and for ever!
Let everybody say, ‘Amen! We agree!’
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord![b]
12 I said,
‘Nobody is wise enough to understand this. The Lord has not told anyone, so that he can explain it to others. Why has our land become like a desert so that nobody travels through it? Does anyone know the answer?’
13 The Lord answered, ‘It is because my people have not accepted the laws that I gave to them. They have not obeyed me. They have not lived in the way that I told them to live. 14 Instead, they have done whatever they wanted to do. They have served the gods of Baal, as their ancestors taught them to do.’ 15 So the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: ‘I will punish my people with trouble and pain. I will give them food that is bitter. They will drink water that is poison. 16 I will send them away as prisoners. They will live among foreign nations that they had never heard about. Their ancestors had not heard about them either. I will send enemies to chase after them until I have destroyed them.’
17 The Lord Almighty said this:
‘Think about what is happening!
Call the women who weep at funerals.
Bring those women who know what to do.’
18 ‘Yes, tell them to come quickly
to sing funeral songs for us.[a]
Then tears will pour from our eyes,
and we will not stop weeping.
19 Listen to the people who are crying in Jerusalem!
They say,
“A terrible thing has happened to us!
We are very ashamed!
Our enemies have destroyed our houses.
Now we have to leave our land.” ’
20 ‘Now hear the Lord's message, you women.
Listen to what he says to you.
Teach your daughters how to weep.
Teach each other this funeral song:
21 “Death has come to visit us!
It has come into our strong houses.
Death has taken away our children
who play in the streets.
It has taken away our young men
who meet together in the streets.”
22 The Lord says this:
Dead bodies of people will lie everywhere on the ground.
They will lie there like dung
that a farmer puts on his fields.
They will lie there like crops at harvest time
that nobody has picked up.’
23 The Lord says,
‘Wise people should not be proud of their wisdom.
Powerful people should not be proud of their power.
And rich people should not be proud that they are rich.
24 If they want to be proud about something,
they should be proud that they know me.
They should boast that they understand who I am.
I am the Lord.
I am faithful in my love for my people.
I always do what is right and fair.
It makes me happy when people live in that way too.’
25 The Lord says, ‘Be careful! Very soon I will punish all people who do not respect me. Those people may be circumcised, but if they do not respect me, I will punish them. 26 Those people include the Egyptians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites and the people of Judah. I will also punish the people who live in the desert and who cut their hair short. Those people are not circumcised to give honour to me. The Israelites are the same. Their bodies are circumcised, but they do not want to obey my covenant with them.’
The priests put Peter and John in prison
4 Peter and John were still speaking to the crowd in the yard of the temple. Then some priests, the leader of the police in the temple and some Sadducees came to them. 2 They were angry because of the things that Peter and John were teaching the people there. They were teaching that Jesus had become alive again after his death. The Jewish leaders did not agree that dead people could become alive again. 3 So they took hold of Peter and John. They put them in prison, because by then it was evening time. They put them in the prison until the next day. 4 But many of the people who had heard Peter's message believed what he said. There were now about 5,000 men who believed in Jesus.
The Jewish leaders ask Peter and John questions
5 The next day, the Jewish rulers and other important Jews met together in Jerusalem. The teachers of God's Law met together with them. 6 They met with Annas who was the most important priest. Caiaphas, John and Alexander were also there. Other men from the family of the most important priest were with them too. 7 The Jewish leaders made Peter and John stand in front of them. They began to ask them questions. They said, ‘How did you cause that man's legs to become strong? Who gave you the power and the authority to do it?’
8 Then Peter became full with the Holy Spirit and he said to them, ‘All you men are rulers of the people and important Jews. 9 Today you are asking us questions about the good thing that we did for this man. Before that, he could not walk. You are asking us how we caused his legs to become strong. 10 Now I need to tell you and all the people of Israel what is true. Then you will know how this happened. This man is standing here in front of you and he is well. His legs are strong because of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and his authority. You fixed Jesus to a cross so that he died. But after that, God caused him to become alive again. 11 The Bible says this about him:[a]
“The builders refused to use a certain stone. They thought that it had no value.
But now that stone has become the most important stone at the corner of the building.” ’
12 Then Peter said, ‘Only Jesus can save people. There has never been another person in the world that could do this. God has not given any other man the authority to save us.’
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