Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
55 (A)But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,[a] 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,[b] and rushed upon him together. 58 They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.(B) 59 As they were stoning Stephen,(C) he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”[c] 60 Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep.(D)
Psalm 31[a]
Prayer in Distress and Thanksgiving for Escape
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 In you, Lord, I take refuge;(A)
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me;
3 incline your ear to me;
make haste to rescue me!
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to save me.
4 For you are my rock and my fortress;(B)
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
5 Free me from the net they have set for me,
for you are my refuge.
15 But I trust in you, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”(A)
16 My destiny is in your hands;
rescue me from my enemies,
from the hands of my pursuers.
2 like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, 3 (A)for you have tasted that the Lord is good.[a] 4 Come to him, a living stone,[b] rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God,(B) 5 and, like living stones, let yourselves be built[c] into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.(C) 6 For it says in scripture:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.”(D)
7 Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
“The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”(E)
8 and
“A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.”
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.(F)
9 [d]But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.(G)
10 Once you were “no people”
but now you are God’s people;
you “had not received mercy”
but now you have received mercy.(H)
Chapter 14
Last Supper Discourses. 1 [a]“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith[b] in God; have faith also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 [c]And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.(A) 4 Where [I] am going you know the way.”[d] 5 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth[e] and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.(B) 7 If you know me, then you will also know my Father.[f] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”(C) 8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,[g] and that will be enough for us.”(D) 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?(E) 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.(F) 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.(G) 12 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.(H) 13 And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.(I) 14 If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.