Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Lord for His Holiness
99 The Lord reigns;
Let the peoples tremble!
(A)He dwells between the cherubim;
Let the earth be [a]moved!
2 The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name—
[b]He is holy.
4 The King’s strength also loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool—
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who (B)called upon His name;
They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;
They kept His testimonies and the [c]ordinance He gave them.
8 You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
Samuel’s Childhood Ministry
18 (A)But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, (B)wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she (C)came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli (D)would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the [a]loan that was (E)given to the Lord.” Then they would go to their own home.
21 And the Lord (F)visited[b] Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel (G)grew before the Lord.
Conflict over Circumcision
15 And (A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, (B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that (C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
3 So, (D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, (E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
The Jerusalem Decree
22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named (A)Barsabas,[a] and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
23 They wrote this letter by them:
The apostles, the elders, and the brethren,
To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that (B)some who went out from us have troubled you with words, (C)unsettling your souls, [b]saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one [c]accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 (D)men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 (E)that you abstain from things offered to idols, (F)from blood, from things strangled, and from (G)sexual[d] immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
Farewell.
Continuing Ministry in Syria
30 So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. 32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being (H)prophets also, (I)exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. 33 And after they had stayed there for a time, they were (J)sent back with greetings from the brethren to [e]the apostles.
34 [f]However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 (K)Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.