Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord
because they were created by his command.
6 He set them in place forever and ever.
He made a law that will never end.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth.
Praise him, you large sea animals and all the oceans.
8 Praise him, lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
and stormy winds that obey him.
9 Praise him, mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedar trees.
10 Praise him, you wild animals and all cattle,
small crawling animals and birds.
11 Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers of the earth.
12 Praise him, you young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord.
He alone is great.
He is greater than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him.
He should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
Joash Does Evil
17 After Jehoiada died, the officers of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash. The king listened to them. 18 The king and these leaders stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord. He is the God their ancestors obeyed. The king and the officers began to worship the Asherah idols and other idols. Because they did wrong, God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 19 The Lord sent prophets to the people to turn them back to him. The prophets warned them, but the people refused to listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God entered Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. Zechariah stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not be successful. You have left the Lord. So the Lord has also left you.’”
21 But the king and his officers made plans against Zechariah. The king commanded them to kill Zechariah. So they threw stones at him in the Temple courtyard until he died. 22 King Joash did not remember Jehoiada’s kindness to him. So Joash killed Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son. Before Zechariah died, he said, “May the Lord see what you are doing and punish you.”
23 At the end of the year, the Aramean army came against Joash. They attacked Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. Then they sent all the valuable things to their king in Damascus. 24 The Aramean army came with only a small group of men. But the Lord let them defeat a very large army from Judah. He did this because the people of Judah had left the Lord. He is the God their ancestors followed. So Joash was punished.
Seven Men Are Chosen
6 More and more people were becoming followers of Jesus. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers had an argument with the other Jewish followers. The Greek-speaking Jews said that their widows were not getting their share of the food that was given out every day. 2 The 12 apostles called the whole group of followers together. They said, “It is not right for us to stop our work of teaching God’s word in order to serve tables. 3 So, brothers, choose seven of your own men. They must be men who are good. They must be full of wisdom and full of the Spirit. We will put them in charge of this work. 4 Then we can use all our time to pray and to teach the word of God.”
5 The whole group liked the idea. So they chose these seven men: Stephen (a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip,[a] Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a man from Antioch who had become a Jew). 6 Then they put these men before the apostles. The apostles prayed and laid their hands on[b] the men.
7 The word of God was reaching more and more people. The group of followers in Jerusalem became larger and larger. A great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
51 Stephen continued speaking: “You stubborn Jewish leaders! You have not given your hearts to God! You won’t listen to him! You are always against what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you. Your ancestors were like this, and you are just like them! 52 Your fathers tried to hurt every prophet who ever lived. Those prophets said long ago that the Righteous One would come. But your fathers killed them. And now you have turned against the Righteous One and killed him. 53 You received the law of Moses, which God gave you through his angels. But you don’t obey it!”
Stephen Is Killed
54 When the leaders heard Stephen saying all these things, they became very angry. They were so mad that they were grinding their teeth at Stephen. 55 But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. 56 He said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side!”
57 Then they all shouted loudly. They covered their ears with their hands and all ran at Stephen. 58 They took him out of the city and threw stones at him until he was dead. The men who told lies against Stephen left their coats with a young man named Saul. 59 While they were throwing stones, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He fell on his knees and cried in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” After Stephen said this, he died.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.