Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House (Temple). A Psalm of David.
30 I will extol and praise You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2
O Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You have healed me.
3
O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).
4
Sing to the Lord, O you His godly ones,
And give thanks at the mention of His holy name.
5
For His anger is but for a moment,
[a]His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may endure for a night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.(A)
6
As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”
7
By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.
8
I called to You, O Lord,
And to the Lord I made supplication (specific request).
9
“What profit is there in my blood (death), if I go down to the pit (grave)?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness [to man]?
10
“Hear, O Lord, be gracious and show favor to me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
11
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
The Woman of Tekoa
14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2 So Joab sent word to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there and told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has for many days been in mourning for the dead. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him in this way.” So Joab [a]told her what to say.
4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she bowed with her face to the ground and lay herself down, and said, “Help, O king.” 5 The king asked her, “[b]What is the matter?” She said, “Truly I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled and fought in the field. There was no one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him. 7 Now behold, the entire family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother, so that we may [c]put him to death [to pay] for the life of his brother whom he killed and destroy the heir also.’ By doing this they will extinguish my coal that is left, leaving my husband without a name or a remnant (heir) on the face of the earth.”
8 Then David said to the woman, “Go to your home, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, the guilt is on me and on my father’s house, but the king and his throne are guiltless.” 10 The king said, “If anyone speaks to you [about this matter], bring him to me [for judgment], and he will not touch you again.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And David said, “As the Lord lives, not a single hair [from the head] of your son shall fall to the ground.”
6 “But as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a great blaze of light suddenly flashed from heaven and shone 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 replied, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me [a]saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that is appointed and destined for you to do.’ 11 But since I could not see because of the [glorious intensity and dazzling] brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to [b]the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to [see] me, and standing near, he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I [recovered my sight and] looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, [and to progressively understand His plan with clarity and power] and to see the Righteous One [Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and to hear a message from His [own] mouth. 15 For you will be His witness to all men testifying of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name [for salvation].’
17 “Then it happened when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple [enclosure], that I fell into a trance (vision); 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know [without any doubt] that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You [and Your message of salvation]. 20 And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby approving and consenting [to his death], and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.’ 21 And the Lord said to me, ‘Go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
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