Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Joy Comes with the Morning

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of ^(A)the temple.

Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew ^(A)that the king's heart went out to Absalom. ² And Joab sent to ^(B)Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. ^(C)Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. ³ Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab ^(D)put the words in her mouth.

⁴ When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, ^(E)she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, ^(F)“Save me, O king.” ⁵ And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, ^(G)“Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶ And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would ^(H)destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor ^(I)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 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, ^(J)“On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.” ¹⁰ The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.” ¹¹ Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the Lord your God, that ^(K)the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, ^(L)“As the Lord lives, ^(M)not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

^6 (A)“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly 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 answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^(B)Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ^9 (C)Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand^[a] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ^(D)‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹² “And ^(E)one Ananias, a devout man ^(F)according to the law, ^(G)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ^13 (H)came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^(I)at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ And he said, ^(J)‘The God of our fathers ^(K)appointed you to know his will, ^(L)to see ^(M)the Righteous One and ^(N)to hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵ for ^(O)you will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^(P)you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why do you wait? ^(Q)Rise and be baptized and ^(R)wash away your sins, ^(S)calling on his name.’

^17 (T)“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^(U)was praying in the temple, I fell into ^(V)a trance ¹⁸ and saw him saying to me, ^(W)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^(X)I imprisoned and ^(Y)beat those who believed in you. ²⁰ And when the blood of Stephen ^(Z)your witness was being shed, ^(AA)I myself was standing by and ^(AB)approving and ^(AC)watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^(AD)far away to the Gentiles.’”