Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.
71 (A)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (B)In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
(C)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (D)Be to me a rock of (E)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given (F)commandment to save me,
For You are (G)my [a]rock and my fortress.
4 (H)Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [b]grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (I)hope;
O Lord [c]God, You are my (J)confidence from my youth.
6 [d]By You I have been (K)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (L)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (M)praise is continually [e]of You.
20 “(A)For what purpose does (B)frankincense come to Me from Sheba
And the [a](C)sweet cane from a distant land?
(D)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“Behold, (E)I am [b]laying stumbling blocks before this people.
And they will stumble against them,
(F)Fathers and sons together;
Neighbor and [c]friend will perish.”
The Enemy from the North
22 Thus says the Lord,
“Behold, (G)a people is coming from the north land,
And a great nation will be aroused from the (H)remote parts of the earth.
23 “They seize (I)bow and spear;
They are (J)cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice (K)roars like the sea,
And they ride on horses,
Arrayed as a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have (L)heard the report of it;
Our hands are limp.
(M)Anguish has seized us,
Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
25 (N)Do not go out into the field
And (O)do not walk on the road,
For the enemy has a sword,
(P)Terror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, (Q)put on sackcloth
And (R)roll in ashes;
[d](S)Mourn as for an only son,
A lamentation most bitter.
For suddenly the destroyer
Will come upon us.
27 “I have (T)made you an assayer and a tester among My people,
That you may know and assay their way.”
28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious,
(U)Going about as a talebearer.
They are (V)bronze and iron;
They, all of them, are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the (W)wicked are not [e]separated.
30 (X)They call them rejected silver,
Because the (Y)Lord has rejected them.
Paul at Thessalonica
17 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to (A)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And (B)according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three (C)Sabbaths reasoned with them from (D)the Scriptures, 3 [a]explaining and [b]giving evidence that the [c]Christ (E)had to suffer and (F)rise again from the dead, and saying, “(G)This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the [d]Christ.” 4 (H)And some of them were persuaded and joined (I)Paul and Silas, [e]along with a large number of the (J)God-fearing (K)Greeks and [f]a number of the (L)leading women. 5 But (M)the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of (N)Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 When they did not find them, they began (O)dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset [g](P)the world have come here also; 7 [h]and Jason (Q)has welcomed them, and they all act (R)contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. 9 And when they had received a [i]pledge from (S)Jason and the others, they released them.
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