Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.

Prayer and Thanksgiving

God Calls Abram

12 The Lord told Abram, “You are to leave your land, your relatives, and your father’s house and go to the land that I’m going to show you. ² I’ll make a great nation of your descendants, I’ll bless you, and I’ll make your reputation great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I’ll bless those who bless you, but I’ll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people^[a] of the earth will be blessed.”

Stephen is Arrested

⁸ Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ But some men who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), as well as some Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and began to debate with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could neither refute the wisdom nor withstand the Spirit by which he kept speaking. ¹¹ So they secretly got some men to say, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes. Then they rushed at Stephen,^[a] grabbed him, and brought him before the Council.^[b]

¹³ They had false witnesses stand up and say, “This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth^[c] will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵ Then everyone who was seated in the Council^[d] glared at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.