Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 Blessed is the (A)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (B)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (C)looks from heaven;
He (D)sees all the sons of mankind;
14 From (E)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (F)fashions [a]the hearts of them all,
He who (G)understands all their works.
16 (H)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not rescued by great strength.
17 A (I)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (J)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who (K)wait for His faithfulness,
19 To (L)rescue their soul from death
And to keep them alive (M)in famine.
20 Our soul (N)waits for the Lord;
He is our (O)help and our shield.
21 For our (P)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You.
The Futility of Life
6 There is an (A)evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is widespread [a]among mankind: 2 a person to whom God has (B)given riches, wealth, and honor, so that his soul (C)lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the opportunity to [b]enjoy these things, but a foreigner [c]enjoys them. This is futility and a severe affliction. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many [d]they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper (D)burial, then I say, “Better (E)the miscarriage than he, 4 for a miscarriage comes in futility and goes into darkness; and its name is covered in darkness. 5 It has not even seen the sun nor does it know it; yet [e]it is better off than that man. 6 Even if the man lives a thousand years twice, but does not see good things—(F)do not all go to one and the same place?”
Stephen’s Defense
7 Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And [a]Stephen said, “Listen to me, (A)[b]brothers and fathers! (B)The God of glory (C)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [c]Haran, 3 and He said to him, ‘(D)Go from your country and your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you.’ 4 (E)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [d]Haran. And (F)from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, (G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. 6 But (H)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and [e]they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they are enslaved I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and (I)after that they will come out and [f]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (J)gave him [g]the covenant of circumcision; and so (K)Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (L)Isaac fathered Jacob, and (M)Jacob, the twelve (N)patriarchs.
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