Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
12 But, Lord, you rule forever,
and your fame goes on and on.
13 You will come and have mercy on Jerusalem,
because the time has now come to be kind to her;
the right time has come.
14 Your servants love even her stones;
they even care about her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings on earth will honor you.
16 The Lord will rebuild Jerusalem;
there his glory will be seen.
17 He will answer the prayers of the needy;
he will not reject their prayers.
18 Write these things for the future
so that people who are not yet born will praise the Lord.
19 The Lord looked down from his holy place above;
from heaven he looked down at the earth.
20 He heard the moans of the prisoners,
and he freed those sentenced to die.
21 The name of the Lord will be heard in Jerusalem;
his praise will be heard there.
22 People will come together,
and kingdoms will serve the Lord.
23 God has made me tired of living;
he has cut short my life.
24 So I said, “My God, do not take me in the middle of my life.
Your years go on and on.
25 In the beginning you made the earth,
and your hands made the skies.
26 They will be destroyed, but you will remain.
They will all wear out like clothes.
And, like clothes, you will change them
and throw them away.
27 But you never change,
and your life will never end.
28 Our children will live in your presence,
and their children will remain with you.”
The Shunammite Regains Her Land
8 Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life. He said, “Get up and go with your family. Stay any place you can, because the Lord has called for a time without food that will last seven years.” 2 So the woman got up and did as the man of God had said. She left with her family, and they stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. 3 After seven years she returned from the land of the Philistines and went to beg the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king had said, “Please tell me all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came and begged the king for her house and land.
Gehazi said, “My master and king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha brought back to life.”
6 The king asked the woman, and she told him about it. Then the king chose an officer to help her. “Give the woman everything that is hers,” the king said. “Give her all the money made from her land from the day she left until now.”
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36 After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, “We should go back to all those towns where we preached the message of the Lord. Let’s visit the believers and see how they are doing.”
37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, 38 but he had left them at Pamphylia; he did not continue with them in the work. So Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him. 39 Paul and Barnabas had such a serious argument about this that they separated and went different ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left. The believers in Antioch put Paul into the Lord’s care, 41 and he went through Syria and Cilicia, giving strength to the churches.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.