Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A psalm of David. A song for setting apart the completed temple to God.

Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

14 Joab, the son of Zeruiah, knew that the king longed to see Absalom. ² So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to have a wise woman brought back from there. Joab said to her, “Pretend you are filled with sadness. Put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Don’t use any makeup. Act like a woman who has spent many days mourning for someone who has died. ³ Then go to the king. Give him the message I’m about to give you.” And Joab told her what to say.

⁴ The woman from Tekoa went to the king. She bowed down with her face toward the ground. She did it to show him respect. She said, “Your Majesty, please help me!”

⁵ The king asked her, “What’s bothering you?”

She said, “I’m a widow. My husband is dead. ⁶ I had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in a field. No one was there to separate them. One of my sons struck down the other one and killed him. ⁷ Now my whole family group has risen up against me. They say, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother. Then we can put him to death for killing his brother. That will also get rid of the one who will receive the family property.’ They want to kill the only living son I have left, just as someone would put out a burning coal. That would leave my husband without any son on the face of the earth to carry on the family name.”

⁸ The king said to the woman, “Go home. I’ll give an order to make sure you are taken care of.”

⁹ But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “You are my king and master. Please pardon me and my family. You and your royal family won’t be guilty of doing anything wrong.”

¹⁰ The king replied, “If people give you any trouble, bring them to me. They won’t bother you again.”

¹¹ She said, “Please pray to the Lord your God. Pray that he will keep our nearest male relative from killing my other son. Then my son won’t be destroyed.”

“You can be sure that the Lord lives,” the king said. “And you can be just as sure that not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”

⁶ “I had almost reached Damascus. About noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice speak to me. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me?’

⁸ “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ he replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing.’ ⁹ The light was seen by my companions. But they didn’t understand the voice of the one speaking to me.

¹⁰ “ ‘What should I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said. ‘Go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been given to do.’ ¹¹ The brightness of the light had blinded me. So my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a godly Jew who obeyed the law. All the Jews living there respected him very much. ¹³ He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said, ‘The God of our people has chosen you. He wanted to tell you his plans for you. You have seen the Blameless One. You have heard words from his mouth. ¹⁵ Now you will tell everyone about what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ So what are you waiting for? Get up and call on his name. Be baptized. Have your sins washed away.’

¹⁷ “I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple. Then it seemed to me that I was dreaming. ¹⁸ I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once. The people here will not accept what you tell them about me.’

¹⁹ “ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know what I used to do. I went from one synagogue to another and put believers in prison. I also beat them. ²⁰ Stephen was a man who told other people about you. I stood there when he was killed. I had agreed that he should die. I even guarded the coats of those who were killing him.’

²¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go. I will send you far away to people who are not Jews.’ ”