Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.
30 I will (A)extol You, O Lord, for You have (B)lifted me up,
And have not let my (C)enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God,
I (D)cried to You for help, and You (E)healed me.
3 O Lord, You have (F)brought up my soul from [a]Sheol;
You have kept me alive, [b]that I would not (G)go down to the pit.
4 (H)Sing praise to the Lord, you (I)His godly ones,
And (J)give thanks to His holy [c](K)name.
5 For (L)His anger is but for a moment,
His (M)favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may (N)last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
6 Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will (O)never be moved.”
7 O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You (P)hid Your face, I was dismayed.
8 To You, O Lord, I called,
And to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my blood, if I (Q)go down to the pit?
Will the (R)dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
10 “(S)Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
O Lord, be my (T)helper.”
11 You have turned for me (U)my mourning into dancing;
You have (V)loosed my sackcloth and girded me with (W)gladness,
12 That my [d](X)soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will (Y)give thanks to You forever.
The Woman of Tekoa
14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that (A)the king’s heart was inclined toward Absalom. 2 So Joab sent to (B)Tekoa and [a]brought a wise woman from there and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments now, and do not (C)anoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has been mourning for the dead many days; 3 then go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab put (D)the words in her mouth.
4 Now when the woman of Tekoa [b]spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and (E)prostrated herself and said, “(F)Help, O king.” 5 The king said to her, “What is your trouble?” And she [c]answered, “Truly I am a widow, for my husband is dead. 6 Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled together in the field, and there was no [d]one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him. 7 Now behold, (G)the whole family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, (H)and destroy the heir also.’ Thus they will extinguish my coal which is left, so as to [e]leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”
8 Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “O my lord, the king, (I)the iniquity is on me and my father’s house, but (J)the king and his throne are guiltless.” 10 So the king said, “Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you anymore.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, (K)so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And he said, “(L)As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”
6 “(A)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am (B)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me (C)saw the light, to be sure, but (D)did not [a]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘(E)What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I (F)could not see because of the [b]brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12 “A certain (G)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and (H)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘(I)Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And [c](J)at that very time I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘(K)The God of our fathers has (L)appointed you to know His will and to (M)see the (N)Righteous One and to hear an [d]utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be (O)a witness for Him to all men of (P)what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? (Q)Get up and be baptized, and (R)wash away your sins, (S)calling on His name.’
17 “It happened when I (T)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I (U)fell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘(V)Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another (W)I used to imprison and (X)beat those who believed in You. 20 And (Y)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away (Z)to the Gentiles.’”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.