Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.

A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.

The Woman of Tekoa

14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that ^(A)the king’s heart was drawn toward Absalom. ² So Joab sent a messenger to ^(B)Tekoa and ^[a]brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please follow mourning rites, 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 for many days. ³ Then go to the king and speak to him in this way.” 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 And the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she ^[c]answered, “Truly I am a widow, for my husband is dead. ⁶ And your servant had two sons, but the two of them fought in the field, and there was no ^[d]one to save ^[e]them from each other, so one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ Now behold, ^(G)the entire family has risen against your servant, and they have said, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, ^(H)and eliminate the heir as well.’ So they will extinguish my coal which is left, so as to ^[f]leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”

⁸ Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your home, and I will issue orders concerning you.” ⁹ The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, the king, ^(I)the guilt 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, “May the king please 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 at about noon, 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, 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 about everything 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 came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹² “Now 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 nearby he said to me, ‘^(I)Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And ^[c](J)at that very moment 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 a ^[d]message from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(O)a witness for Him to all people 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 by ^(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)Hurry 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 nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^(Z)to the Gentiles.’”