Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Justice of the Kingdom
Psalm 146
1 Halleluyah! Praise Adonai, O my soul!
2 I will praise Adonai all my life.
I will praise my God yet again.
3 Do not put your trust in princes—
in man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His breath departs,
he returns to his dust.
In that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in Adonai his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps truth forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives bread to the hungry.
Adonai sets the prisoners free.
8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind.[a]
Adonai raises up those who are bowed down.
Adonai loves the righteous.
9 Adonai protects outsiders,
upholds the fatherless and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 Adonai will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
Halleluyah!
9 That is why justice is far from us
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but behold darkness,
for brightness, but walk in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like the blind.
We grope like those with no eyes.
We stumble at noon as at twilight.
We are like the dead in desolation.
11 All of us growl like bears
or moan like doves.
We hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
and our sins testify against us,
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing and denying Adonai,
turning back from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the street,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 So now truth is missing,
and whoever shuns evil becomes prey.
Now when Adonai saw it, it was displeasing in His eyes
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one—
He was astonished that no one was interceding.[a]
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him,
and His righteousness upheld Him.
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate
and a helmet of salvation on His head.
He clothed Himself in robes of vengeance
and wrapped Himself in zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds,
so He will repay:
wrath to His adversaries,
retribution to His enemies.
To the islands He will repay as due.
19 So from the west they will fear the Name of Adonai,
and His glory from the rising of the sun.
For He will come like a rushing stream
driven along by the Ruach Adonai.
Saul Turns from Murder to Messiah
9 Now Saul, still breathing out threats and murder against the Lord’s disciples, went to the kohen gadol. 2 He requested letters of introduction from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
3 As he was traveling, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 “Who are You, Lord?” Saul said.
“I am Yeshua—whom you are persecuting. [a] 6 But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”[b]
7 The men travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. [c] 8 Saul got up from the ground—but opening his eyes, he could see nothing. They led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink.
10 Now there was a disciple named Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him, “Ananias.”
He said, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street named Straight, and ask in the house of Judah for someone from Tarsus named Saul. For look, he is praying; 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”
13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man—how much harm he has done to your kedoshim in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the ruling kohanim to tie up all who call on Your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a choice instrument to carry My name before nations and kings and Bnei-Yisrael. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
17 So Ananias left and entered into the house. Laying hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Yeshua, the One who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—has sent me, so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh.”
18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was immersed; 19 and when he had taken food, he was strengthened. Now for several days, he was with the disciples in Damascus. 20 Immediately he began proclaiming Yeshua in the synagogues, saying, “He is Ben-Elohim.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.