Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Psalm for the dedication of the Temple.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
30 I exalt you, Lord,
for you have lifted me up,
and my enemies could not gloat over me.
2 Lord, my God!
I cried out to you for help
and you healed me.
3 Lord, you brought me from death;[a]
you kept me alive so that I did not descend into the Pit.[b]
4 You, his godly ones,
sing to the Lord,
give thanks at the mention of his holiness.
5 For his wrath is only momentary;
yet his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may lodge for the night,
but shouts of joy will come in the morning.
6 As for me,
I said in my prosperity,
“I will never be moved.”
7 By your favor, Lord,
you established me as a strong mountain;
Then you hid your face,
and I was dismayed.
8 I cried out to you, Lord,
and I make supplication to the Lord:
9 “What profit is there in my death[c] if I go down to the Pit?[d]
Can dust worship you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?”
10 Hear me, Lord,
and have mercy on me!
Lord, help me!
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you took off my sackcloth
and clothed me with a garment of joy,
12 so that I may sing praise to you
and not remain silent.
Lord, my God,
I will give you thanks forever!
Joab’s Plan Regarding Absalom
14 Meanwhile, Zeruiah’s son Joab knew that the king’s attention was focused on Absalom,[a] 2 so he[b] sent messengers[c] to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup.[d] Act like a woman who’s been in mourning for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him like this…” Then Joab told her what to say.
4 When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, “Help, your majesty!”
5 The king asked her, “What’s your problem?”[e]
“I’ve been a widowed woman[f] ever since my husband died,” she answered. 6 “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. 7 Now please pay attention closely! My[g] whole family is attacking your humble servant! They’re saying, ‘Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we’ll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we’ll kill the heir also!’ They’re going to extinguish the only light[h] left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!”
8 Then the king replied to the woman, “Go home and I’ll issue a special order just for you.”
9 But the woman from Tekoa told the king, “Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors’ household, and not on my king or his throne!”
10 The king replied, “Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won’t be bothering[i] you anymore!”
11 Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the Lord your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”
So he promised, “As the Lord lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head[j] will fall to the ground!”
6 “But while I was on my way and approaching Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’
8 “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’[a]
“He told me, ‘I’m Jesus from Nazareth,[b] whom you are persecuting.’ 9 The men who were with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
10 “Then I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’
“The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are destined to do.’ 11 Since I could not see because of the brightness of the light, the men who were with me took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.
12 “A certain Ananias, who was a devout man with respect to the Law and who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there, 13 came to me. He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that moment I could see him.
14 “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice,[c] 15 because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’
17 “Then I returned to Jerusalem. While I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw the Lord[d] saying to me, ‘Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem at once, because the people[e] won’t accept your testimony about me.’
19 “I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I kept imprisoning and beating those who believe in you. 20 Even when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there, approving it and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.’
21 “Then he told me, ‘Go, because I’ll send you far away to the gentiles.’”
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