Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Old Person’s Prayer
71 In you, Lord, is my protection.
Never let me be ashamed.
2 Because you do what is right, save and rescue me;
listen to me and save me.
3 Be my place of safety
where I can always come.
Give the command to save me,
because you are my rock and my strong, walled city.
4 My God, save me from the power of the wicked
and from the hold of evil and cruel people.
5 Lord, you are my hope.
Lord, I have trusted you since I was young.
6 I have depended on you since I was born;
you helped me even on the day of my birth.
I will always praise you.
The Death of Josiah
20 After Josiah did all this for the Temple, Neco king of Egypt led an army to attack 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. I did not come to fight you, but my enemies. God told me to hurry, and he is on my side. So don’t fight God, or he will destroy you.”
22 But Josiah did not go away. He wore different clothes so no one would know who he was. Refusing to listen to what Neco said at God’s command, 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 where his ancestors were buried. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem were very sad because he was dead.
25 Jeremiah wrote some sad songs about Josiah. Even to this day all the men and women singers remember and honor Josiah with these songs. It became a custom in Israel to sing these songs that are written in the collection of sad songs.
26-27 The other things Josiah did as king, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. It tells how he loved what was written in the Lord’s teachings.
Paul in Ephesus
19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on the way to Ephesus. There he found some followers 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They said, “We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit.”
3 So he asked, “What kind of baptism did you have?”
They said, “It was the baptism that John taught.”
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of changed hearts and lives. 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 the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul laid his hands on them,[a] and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began speaking different languages[b] and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve people in this group.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and spoke out boldly for three months. He talked with the people and persuaded them to accept the things he said about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became stubborn. They refused to believe and said evil things about the Way of Jesus before all the people. So Paul left them, and taking the followers with him, he went to the school of a man named Tyrannus. There Paul talked with people every day 10 for two years. Because of his work, every Jew and Greek in Asia heard the word of the Lord.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.