Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 Blessed is the (A)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (B)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (C)looks from heaven;
He (D)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (E)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (F)fashions [a]the hearts of them all,
He who (G)understands all their works.
16 (H)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (I)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (J)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [b](K)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (L)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (M)in famine.
20 Our soul (N)waits for the Lord;
He is our (O)help and our shield.
21 For our (P)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [c]hoped in You.
The Futility of Life
6 There is an (A)evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent [a]among men— 2 a man to whom God has (B)given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul (C)lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner [b]enjoys them. This is [c]vanity and a severe affliction. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many [d]they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper (D)burial, then I say, “Better (E)the miscarriage than he, 4 for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. 5 It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; [e]it is better off than he. 6 Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not [f]enjoy good things—(F)do not all go to one place?”
Stephen’s Defense
7 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, (A)brethren and fathers! (B)The God of glory (C)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [a]Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘(D)Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 (E)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [b]Haran. (F)From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, (G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But (H)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would [c]be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and (I)after that they will come out and [d]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (J)gave him [e]the covenant of circumcision; and so (K)Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (L)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and (M)Jacob of the twelve (N)patriarchs.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.