Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 101^[a]

Norm of Life for a Good Ruler

¹ A psalm of David.

¹⁶ Solomon’s Wisdom. Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One of the women said, “O my lord, I and this woman live in the same house. I had a child while this woman was in the house.

¹⁸ “Three days after I had my child, this woman also had a child. We were there together, and there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us. ¹⁹ This woman’s child died during the night because she rolled over upon it. ²⁰ She got up in the middle of the night, and she took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast, and she put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ When I got up the next morning to nurse my son, he was dead. I examined him carefully in the morning, and behold, it was not the son whom I had borne.”

²² The other woman said, “No! My son is the living one; your son is the dead one!” The first woman said, “No! Your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one!” They argued this way before the king.

²³ The king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, the living one, and that is your son, the dead one,’ while the other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead, my son is alive.’ ” ²⁴ The king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword to the king. ²⁵ The king said, “Divide the living child in two. Give one-half to one of them, and one-half to the other.”

²⁶ The woman whose child was alive was moved to compassion for her son and she said to the king, “O my lord, give her the living child. Do not kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you will have him. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ The king then said, “Give her the living child. Do not kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ When all of Israel heard about how the king had judged the case, they were filled with awe toward the king. They realized that he had the wisdom of God by the way he was able to judge properly.

Jerusalem, First Center of Diffusion^[a]

Chapter 6

Institution of the Seven Deacons.^{[b] 1} In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews,^[c] asserting that their own widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. ² And so the Twelve called together the entire community of disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³ Therefore, brethren, we direct you to select from among you seven^[d] men of good reputation, men filled with the Spirit and with wisdom, to whom we may assign this task. ⁴ We will then be able to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

⁵ The entire community found this proposal to be acceptable, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch who was a convert to Judaism. ⁶ They then presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them.^[e]

⁷ The word of God continued to spread ever more widely. The number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.