Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own inheritance.
13 When the Lord looks down from heaven,
he observes every human being.
14 From his dwelling place,
he looks down on all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He formed the hearts of them all;
he understands everything they do.
16 A king is not saved by a large army;
a mighty soldier is not delivered by his great strength.
17 It is vain to trust in a horse for deliverance,
even with its great strength, it cannot deliver.
18 Indeed, the Lord watches those who fear him;
those who trust in his gracious love
19 to deliver them from death;
to keep them alive in times of famine.
20 We wait on the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 Indeed, our heart will rejoice in him,
because we have placed our trust in his holy name.
22 Lord, may your gracious love be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Enjoyment of Life as a Gift from God
6 There exists another misfortune that I have observed on earth, and it is a heavy burden upon human beings: 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, riches, and honor, so that he lacks none of his heart’s desires—but God does not give him the capability to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger consumes them. This is pointless and a grievous affliction.
3 A man might father a hundred children,[a] and live for many years, so that the length of his life[b] is long—but if his life does not overflow with goodness, and he doesn’t receive a proper[c] burial, I maintain that stillborn children[d] are better off than he is, 4 because stillborn children[e] arrive in pointlessness, leave in darkness, and their names are covered in darkness. 5 Furthermore, though they never saw the sun nor learned anything,[f] they are more content than the other. 6 Even if he lives a thousand years twice over without experiencing the best—aren’t all of them going to the same place?
Stephen Defends Himself
7 Then the high priest asked, “Is this true?”
2 Stephen replied:
“Listen, brothers and fathers!
“The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. 3 God[a] told him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land I’ll show you.’[b] 4 So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country where you now live. 5 God[c] gave him no property here,[d] not even a foot of land,[e] yet he promised to give it to him and to his descendants[f] after him as a permanent possession, even though he had no child.
6 “This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people[g] would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years. 7 ‘But I will punish the nation they serve,’ said God, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’[h]
8 Later, God[i] gave Abraham[j] the covenant of circumcision. Later, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered[k] the twelve patriarchs.
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