Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Old Person’s Prayer
71 In you, Lord, ·is my protection [L I find refuge].
Never let me be ashamed.
2 Because you ·do what is right [are righteous], ·save [protect] and rescue me;
·listen [L extend your ear] to me and ·save me [give me victory].
3 Be my ·place of safety [L rock of refuge]
where I can always come.
Give the command to ·save me [give me victory],
because you are my rock and my ·strong, walled city [fortress].
4 My God, ·save [rescue] me from the ·power [L hand] of the wicked
and from the ·hold [grasp; L palm] of evil and cruel people.
5 Lord, you are my hope.
Lord, I have ·trusted [had confidence in] you since I was young.
6 I have ·depended [L leaned] on you ·since I was born [L from the belly; C the womb];
you ·helped me even on the day of my birth [brought me forth/cut off my umbilical cord from my mother’s innards].
I will always praise you.
The Death of Josiah(A)
20 After Josiah ·did all this for [restored; set in order] the ·Temple [L house], Neco king of Egypt led an army to ·attack [fight/do battle at] Carchemish, a town on the Euphrates River. And Josiah marched out to fight against Neco. 21 But Neco sent messengers to Josiah, saying, “King Josiah, ·there should not be war between us [what have we to do with each other? L what to me and to you]. I did not come to fight you, but ·my enemies [the kingdom/L house with which I am at war]. God told me to hurry, and he is on my side. So ·don’t fight [stop opposing] God, ·or he will [so he will not] destroy you.”
22 But Josiah did not ·go [L turn his face] away. He ·wore different clothes [disguised himself] ·so no one would know who he was [in order to fight him]. Refusing to listen to ·what Neco said at God’s command [L the words Neco received from God’s mouth], Josiah went to fight on the plain of Megiddo. 23 In the battle King Josiah was shot by archers. He told his servants, “Take me away because I am badly wounded.” 24 So they took him out of his chariot and put him in another chariot and carried him to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the ·graves [tombs] where his ·ancestors [fathers] were buried. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem ·were very sad because he was dead [mourned for him].
25 Jeremiah ·wrote some sad songs about [composed a lament for] Josiah. Even to this day all the men and women singers ·remember and honor [lament; mourn] Josiah with these songs. It became a ·custom [tradition] in Israel to sing these songs that are written in ·the collection of sad songs [The Book of Laments].
26 The ·other things Josiah did as king [rest of the acts/events/history of Josiah] and his acts of devotion in obedience to what was was written in the Lord’s ·Teachings [instructions; laws], 27 from ·beginning to end [first to last], ·are [L are they not…?] written in the ·book [scroll] of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Paul in Ephesus
19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions [C the mountainous northern route through the interior of Phrygia; 18:23] to Ephesus [C a major city in western Asia Minor; 18:23]. There he found some ·followers [disciples] 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit ·when [or after] you believed?”
They said, “We have never even heard ·of [or that there is] a Holy Spirit.”
3 So he asked, “·What kind of baptism did you have [L Into what were you baptized]?”
They said, “·It was the baptism that John taught [L Into John’s baptism].” [C These followers of John the Baptist either (1) knew only of John’s ministry but had not heard that Jesus was the Messiah, or less likely, (2) believed in Jesus as Messiah, but had not been baptized in his name to receive the Holy Spirit.]
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of ·changed hearts and lives [repentance; C in preparation for the Messiah]. He told people to believe in the one who would come after him, and that one is Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized ·in [or into] the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul ·laid [placed] his hands on them [C a ritual of blessing and/or conferring of authority], and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began speaking ·different languages [or in tongues; ecstatic utterance] and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve people in this group.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and spoke out ·boldly [confidently; fearlessly] for three months. He ·talked [reasoned; argued] with the people and persuaded them ·to accept the things he said about [L concerning] the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became ·stubborn [hardened]. They refused to believe and ·said evil things about [slandered; cursed] ·the Way of Jesus [L the Way; C another name for the Christian movement; 9:2; 18:25; 22:4] before ·all the people [the crowd]. So Paul left them, and taking the ·followers [disciples] with him, he went to the ·school [lecture hall] of a man named Tyrannus. There Paul ·talked [discussed; reasoned; debated] with people every day 10 for two years. Because of his work, ·everyone who lived in [the whole population of] the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
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