Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 30[a]
A psalm, a song used at the dedication of the temple;[b] by David.
30 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up,[c]
and did not allow my enemies to gloat[d] over me.
2 O Lord my God,
I cried out to you and you healed me.[e]
3 O Lord, you pulled me[f] up from Sheol;
you rescued me from among those descending into the grave.[g]
4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers[h] of his;
give thanks to his holy name.[i]
5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,
and his good favor restores one’s life.[j]
One may experience sorrow during the night,
but joy arrives in the morning.[k]
6 In my self-confidence I said,
“I will never be shaken.”[l]
7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure.[m]
Then you rejected me[n] and I was terrified.
8 To you, O Lord, I cried out;
I begged the Lord for mercy:[o]
9 “What[p] profit is there in taking my life,[q]
in my descending into the Pit?[r]
Can the dust of the grave[s] praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty?[t]
10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me.
O Lord, deliver me.”[u]
11 Then you turned my lament into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy.[v]
12 So now[w] my heart[x] will sing to you and not be silent;
O Lord my God, I will always[y] give thanks to you.
David Permits Absalom to Return to Jerusalem
14 Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king longed to see[a] Absalom. 2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning[b] and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time.[c] 3 Go to the king and speak to him in the following fashion.” Then Joab told her what to say.[d]
4 So the Tekoan woman went[e] to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me,[f] O king!” 5 The king replied to her, “What do you want?”[g] She answered, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 Your servant[h] has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death[i] of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal,[j] leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”
8 Then the king told the woman, “Go to your home. I will give instructions concerning your situation.”[k] 9 The Tekoan woman said to the king, “My lord the king, let any blame fall on me and on the house of my father. But let the king and his throne be innocent!”
10 The king said, “Bring to me whoever speaks to you, and he won’t bother you again!” 11 She replied, “In that case,[l] let the king invoke the name of[m] the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not add to the killing! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head[n] will fall to the ground.”
6 As[a] I was en route and near Damascus,[b] about noon a very bright[c] light from heaven[d] suddenly flashed[e] around me. 7 Then I[f] fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand[g] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 So I asked,[h] ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up[i] and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything[j] that you have been designated[k] to do.’ 11 Since I could not see because of[l] the brilliance[m] of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of[n] those who were with me. 12 A man named Ananias,[o] a devout man according to the law,[p] well spoken of by all the Jews who live there,[q] 13 came[r] to me and stood beside me[s] and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’[t] And at that very moment[u] I looked up and saw him.[v] 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors[w] has already chosen[x] you to know his will, to see[y] the Righteous One,[z] and to hear a command[aa] from his mouth, 15 because you will be his witness[ab] to all people[ac] of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for?[ad] Get up,[ae] be baptized, and have your sins washed away,[af] calling on his name.’[ag] 17 When[ah] I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance[ai] 18 and saw the Lord[aj] saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 I replied,[ak] ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues[al] who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of your witness[am] Stephen was shed,[an] I myself was standing nearby, approving,[ao] and guarding the cloaks[ap] of those who were killing him.’[aq] 21 Then[ar] he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
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