Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A psalm by David.
101 I will sing about mercy and justice.
O Lord, I will make music to praise you.
2 I want to understand the path to integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will live in my own home with integrity.
3 I will not put anything wicked in front of my eyes.
I hate what unfaithful people do.
I want no part of it.
4 I will keep far away from devious minds.
I will have nothing to do with evil.
5 I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor.
I will not tolerate anyone with a conceited look or arrogant heart.
6 My eyes will be watching the faithful people in the land
so that they may live with me.
The person who lives with integrity will serve me.
7 The one who does deceitful things will not stay in my home.
The one who tells lies will not remain in my presence.
8 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land
to rid the Lord’s city of all troublemakers.
Solomon’s Wisdom in Action
16 A short time later two prostitutes came to the king and stood in front of him. 17 One woman said to him, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth ⌞to a son⌟ while she was with me in the house. 18 Two days later this woman also gave birth ⌞to a son⌟. We were alone. No one else was with us. Just the two of us were in the house. 19 That night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on top of him. 20 So she got up during the night and took my son, who was beside me, while I was asleep. She held him in her arms. Then she laid her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! I took a good look at him and realized that he wasn’t my son at all!”
22 The other woman said, “No! My son is alive—your son is dead.”
The first woman kept on saying, “No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.” So they argued in front of the king.
23 The king said, “This one keeps saying, ‘My son is alive—your son is dead,’ and that one keeps saying, ‘No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.’ ”
24 So the king told his servants to bring him a sword. When they brought it, 25 he said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was still alive was deeply moved by her love for the child. She said to the king, “Please, sir, give her the living child. Please don’t kill him!”
But the other woman said, “He won’t be mine or yours. Cut him ⌞in two⌟.”
27 The king replied, “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”
28 All Israel heard about the decision the king made. They respected the king very highly, because they saw he possessed wisdom from God to do what was right.
The Disciples Choose Seven Men to Help the Apostles
6 At that time, as the number of disciples grew, Greek-speaking Jews complained about the Hebrew-speaking Jews. The Greek-speaking Jews claimed that the widows among them were neglected every day when food and other assistance was distributed.
2 The twelve apostles called all the disciples together and told them, “It’s not right for us to give up God’s word in order to distribute food. 3 So, brothers and sisters, choose seven men whom the people know are spiritually wise. We will put them in charge of this problem. 4 However, we will devote ourselves to praying and to serving in ways that are related to the word.”
5 The suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, who was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and they chose Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, who had converted to Judaism in the city of Antioch. 6 The disciples had these men stand in front of the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on these seven men.
7 God’s word continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem grew very large. A large number of priests accepted the faith.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.