Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.

¹ ¶ I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

² O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

³ O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; thou gavest me life from my descent into the grave.

⁴ Let his merciful ones sing unto the LORD, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

⁵ For his anger endures but a moment; in his will is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

⁶ ¶ And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

⁷ LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong; thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

⁸ I will cry unto thee, O GOD; and unto the Lord will I make supplication.

⁹ What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth?

¹⁰ Hear, O LORD and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

¹¹ Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness;

¹² to the end that I may sing glory unto thee and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

14 ¶ Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom.

² And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought an astute woman from there and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner and put on mourning apparel and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman that has mourned for a long time for someone who is dead

³ and come to the king and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴ And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said, Save me, O king.

⁵ And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, I am a widow woman, and my husband is dead.

⁶ And thy handmaid had two sons, and the two strove together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one smote the other and slew him.

⁷ And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and we will destroy the heir also. So they shall quench my coal which is left and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.

⁸ And the king said unto the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give a command concerning thee.

⁹ And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house; and the king and his throne be guiltless.

¹⁰ And the king said, Whoever speaks against thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.

¹¹ Then she said, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou will not allow the avengers {Heb. redeemers} of blood to increase the damage by destroying my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, not one hair of thy son shall fall to the earth.

⁶ And it came to pass that, as I made my journey and was come near unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

⁷ And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?

⁸ And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I Am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou dost persecute.

⁹ And those that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him that spoke to me.

¹⁰ And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

¹¹ And when I could not see for the clarity of that light, being led by the hand of those that were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good witness of all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³ came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

¹⁴ And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou should know his will and see that Just One and should hear the voice of his mouth.

¹⁵ For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

¹⁶ And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

¹⁷ And it came to pass that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a rapture of understanding

¹⁸ and saw him saying unto me, Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹ And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and in every synagogue beat those that believed on thee;

²⁰ and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of those that slew him.

²¹ And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee far from here unto the Gentiles.