); Wisdom 4:7-15 (The righteous are rewarded); Acts 7:59—8:8 (Stephen is stoned to death) (New American Standard Bible 1995)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
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 hosts!
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 Let them 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 which will not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(J)Sea monsters and all (K)deeps;
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)Beasts and all cattle;
(T)Creeping things and winged fowl;
11 (U)Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes 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 (B)falling on his knees, he 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)Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution [b]began against (F)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (G)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (H)Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But (I)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and (J)dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (K)who had been scattered went about [c](L)preaching the word. 5 (M)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming [d]Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [e]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 and lame were healed. 8 So there was (P)much rejoicing in that city.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.