Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm (A)of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have (B)brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 (C)Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 (D)Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not (E)revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to [a]folly.
9 Surely (F)His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
(G)That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
(H)Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 (I)Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
God’s Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a (A)charge[a] against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no truth or mercy
Or (B)knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed [b]upon bloodshed.
3 Therefore (C)the land will mourn;
And (D)everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those (E)who contend with the priest.
5 Therefore you shall stumble (F)in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 (G)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
(H)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 “The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
(I)I[c] will change [d]their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their [e]heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: (J)like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And [f]reward them for their deeds.
10 For (K)they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.
The Idolatry of Israel
11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine (L)enslave the heart.
12 My people ask counsel from their (M)wooden idols,
And their [g]staff informs them.
For (N)the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
13 (O)They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
(P)Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.
14 “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a (Q)ritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.
15 “Though you, Israel, play the harlot,
Let not Judah offend.
(R)Do not come up to Gilgal,
Nor go up to (S)Beth[h] Aven,
(T)Nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—
Matthias Chosen(A)
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the [a]disciples (altogether the number (B)of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, (C)which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, (D)who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 for (E)he was numbered with us and obtained a part in (F)this ministry.”
18 (G)(Now this man purchased a field with (H)the [b]wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his [c]entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
and,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.