Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 120

A Song of Ascents.

The Proclamation of Cyrus^(A)

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he issued a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:

“The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ Whoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, gold, goods, and animals, along with voluntary gifts for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

⁵ Then the heads of the households of Judah and Benjamin, and the Levitical priests, with all those whose spirits God had stirred, rose up to go up to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶ So everyone all around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, gold, goods, animals, and precious things, besides all that was given voluntarily. ⁷ Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had put in the house of his gods. ⁸ Cyrus king of Persia even brought forth more for them, by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer and had them numbered for Sheshbazzar, who was the prince of Judah.

⁹ This is the number of them: thirty containers of gold, one thousand containers of silver, and twenty-nine knives. ¹⁰ There were also thirty smaller bowls of gold, four hundred and ten smaller bowls of silver (of lesser value), and one thousand other various containers.

¹¹ All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Paul’s Travel Plans Change

¹² For our rejoicing is this: The testimony of our conscience is that we conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you, in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God. ¹³ For we write nothing else to you than what you read or understand. And I trust you will understand even to the end, ¹⁴ as you have understood us in part, that we are yours, boasting even as you are ours on the day of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁵ In this confidence I planned to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit: ¹⁶ to visit you while going to Macedonia, and to come again to you from Macedonia, and then be sent by you on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do this lightly? Or the things that I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, so that I would tell you “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

¹⁸ But as God is true, we did not tell you “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by Silas, Timothy, and me, was not “Yes” and “No.” In Him it was “Yes.”