Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. 2 But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely.
3 They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper.
4 But for sinners, what a different story! They blow away like chaff before the wind. 5 They are not safe on Judgment Day; they shall not stand among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over all the plans and paths of godly men, but the paths of the godless lead to doom.
12 Tell them this: The Lord God of Israel says, All your wine jugs will be full of wine. And they will reply, Of course, you don’t need to tell us how prosperous we will be![a] 13 Then tell them: That’s not what I mean.[b] I mean that I will fill everyone living in this land with helpless bewilderment—from the king sitting on David’s throne, and the priests and the prophets, right on down to all the people. 14 And I will smash fathers and sons against each other, says the Lord. I will not let pity nor mercy spare them from utter destruction.
15 Oh, that you were not so proud and stubborn! Then you would listen to the Lord, for he has spoken. 16 Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late, before he causes deep, impenetrable darkness to fall upon you so that you stumble and fall upon the dark mountains; then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness. 17 Do you still refuse to listen? Then in loneliness my breaking heart shall mourn because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears because the Lord’s flock shall be carried away as slaves.
18 Say to the king and queen mother,[c] Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns are removed from your heads. They are no longer yours. 19 The cities of the Negeb to the south of Jerusalem have closed their gates against the enemy. They must defend themselves, for Jerusalem cannot help;[d] and all Judah shall be taken away as slaves.
26 “Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also all of you Gentiles here who reverence God—this salvation is for all of us! 27 The Jews in Jerusalem and their leaders fulfilled prophecy by killing Jesus; for they didn’t recognize him or realize that he is the one the prophets had written about, though they heard the prophets’ words read every Sabbath. 28 They found no just cause to execute him, but asked Pilate to have him killed anyway. 29 When they had fulfilled all the prophecies concerning his death, he was taken from the cross and placed in a tomb.
30 “But God brought him back to life again! 31 And he was seen many times during the next few days by the men who had accompanied him to Jerusalem from Galilee—these men have constantly testified to this in public witness.
32-33 “And now Barnabas and I are here to bring you this Good News—that God’s promise to our ancestors has come true in our own time, in that God brought Jesus back to life again. This is what the second Psalm is talking about when it says concerning Jesus, ‘Today I have honored you as my Son.’[a]
34 “For God had promised to bring him back to life again, no more to die. This is stated in the Scripture that says, ‘I will do for you the wonderful thing I promised David.’
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.