); Wisdom 4:7-15 (The righteous are rewarded); Acts 7:59—8:8 (Stephen is stoned to death) (New American Standard Bible)
Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.
148 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise the Lord (A)from the heavens;
Praise Him (B)in the heights!
2 Praise Him, (C)all His angels;
Praise Him, (D)all His heavenly armies!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
4 Praise Him, [c](E)highest heavens,
And the (F)waters that are above the heavens!
5 They are to praise the name of the Lord,
For (G)He commanded and they were created.
6 He has also (H)established them forever and ever;
He has made a (I)decree, and it will not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(J)Sea monsters, and all the ocean (K)depths;
8 (L)Fire and hail, (M)snow and (N)clouds;
(O)Stormy wind, (P)fulfilling His word;
9 (Q)Mountains and all hills;
Fruit (R)trees and all cedars;
10 (S)Animals and all cattle;
(T)Crawling things and winged fowl;
11 (U)Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Rulers and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.
59 They went on stoning Stephen as he (A)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he (B)fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, (C)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he [a](D)fell asleep.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (E)Now Saul approved of putting [b]Stephen to death.
And on that day a great persecution [c]began against (F)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (G)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (H)Samaria, except for the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. 3 But (I)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would (J)drag away men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (K)who had been scattered went through places [d](L)preaching the word. 5 (M)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the [e]Christ to them. 6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [f]signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had (N)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been (O)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. 8 So there was (P)much rejoicing in that city.
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