Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 101
A Psalm of David.
1 I will sing of mercy and justice;
to You, O Lord, I will sing.
2 I will consider the path that is blameless.
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart.
3 I will set no wicked thing
before my eyes.
I hate the work of those who turn aside;
it shall not have part of me.
4 A perverted heart shall be far from me;
I will not know anything wicked.
5 Whoever privately slanders his neighbor,
him I will destroy;
whoever has a haughty look and a proud heart
I will not endure.
6 My eyes shall be favorable to the faithful in the land,
that they may live with me;
he who walks in a blameless manner,
he shall serve me.
7 He who practices deceit
shall not dwell within my house;
he who tells lies
shall not remain in my sight.
8 Every morning I will destroy
all the wicked in the land,
that I may cut off all wicked doers
from the city of the Lord.
The Wisdom of Solomon
16 At that time, two women who were prostitutes came and stood before the king. 17 The first woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I bore a child with her in the house. 18 Three days after I gave birth, she also had a child, and we were together. There was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.
19 “Then this woman’s child died during the night because she rolled over on it. 20 She got up at midnight and took my son from beside me while your servant slept and laid him at her bosom and laid her dead child at my bosom. 21 When I rose in the morning to feed my child, it was dead. But when I looked closely in the morning light, I recognized that it was not my son whom I bore.”
22 The other woman said, “No, the living is my son, and the dead is your son.”
And she said, “No, the dead is your son, and the living is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, “One says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead,’ and the other says, ‘No, but your son is dead, and my son is the living.’ ”
24 So the king said, “Bring me a sword.” And they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son, and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and do not kill it.”
But the other said, “Let it be neither mine nor yours and divide it.”
27 Then the king answered and said, “Give her the living child, and do not slay it. She is its mother.”
28 All Israel heard of the king’s judgment, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute sound judgment.
The Seven Helpers
6 Now in those days, as the disciples were multiplied, there was murmuring among the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily distribution. 2 So the twelve called the multitude of disciples together and said, “It is not reasonable for us to leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Brothers, look among yourselves for seven men who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint over this duty. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 And what was said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, who was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they presented before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they placed their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples grew rapidly in Jerusalem, and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.