The Daily Lectionary for THURSDAY, January 31, 2019

Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
Acts 10:44-48

The Daily Lectionary

THURSDAY, January 31, 2019

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Psalm 71:1-6

Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help
1  In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
     let me never be put to shame.
2  In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
     incline your ear to me and save me.
3  Be to me a rock of refuge,
     a strong fortress, to save me,
     for you are my rock and my fortress.

4  Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
     from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5  For you, O Lord, are my hope,
     my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6  Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
     it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
   My praise is continually of you.

2 Chronicles 34:1-7

Reign of Josiah
34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and the cast images. 4 In his presence they pulled down the altars of the Baals; he demolished the incense altars that stood above them. He broke down the sacred poles and the carved and the cast images; he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. 6 In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, 7 he broke down the altars, beat the sacred poles and the images into powder, and demolished all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Acts 10:44-48

Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
10:44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.