Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 132
A pilgrimage song.
132 Lord, remember David—
all the ways he suffered
2 and how he swore to the Lord,
how he promised the strong one of Jacob:
3 “I won’t enter my house,
won’t get into my bed.
4 I won’t let my eyes close,
won’t let my eyelids sleep,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the strong one of Jacob.”
6 Yes, we heard about it in Ephrathah;
we found it[a] in the fields of Jaar.
7 Let’s enter God’s dwelling place;
let’s worship at the place God rests his feet!
8 Get up, Lord, go to your residence—
you and your powerful covenant chest!
9 Let your priests be dressed in righteousness;
let your faithful shout out with joy!
10 And for the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David
a true promise that God won’t take back:
“I will put one of your own children on your throne.
12 And if your children keep my covenant
and the laws that I will teach them,
then their children too will rule on your throne forever.”
13 Because the Lord chose Zion;
he wanted it for his home.
14 “This is my residence forever.
I will live here because I wanted it for myself.[a]
15 I will most certainly bless its food supply;
I will fill its needy full of food!
16 I will dress its priests in salvation,
and its faithful will shout out loud with joy!
17 It is there that I will make David’s strength thrive.[b]
I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one there.
18 I will dress his enemies in shame,
but the crown he wears will shine.”
Josiah rules Judah
22 Josiah was 8 years old when he became king, and he ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah; she was Adaiah’s daughter and was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, and walked in the ways of his ancestor David—not deviating from it even a bit to the right or left.
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s rule, he sent the secretary Shaphan, Azaliah’s son and Meshullam’s grandson, to the Lord’s temple with the following orders: 4 “Go to the high priest Hilkiah. Have him carefully count[a] the money that has been brought to the Lord’s temple and that has been collected from the people by the doorkeepers. 5 It should be given to the supervisors in charge of the Lord’s temple, who in turn should pay it to those who are in the Lord’s temple, repairing the temple— 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons. It should be used to pay for lumber and quarried stone to repair the temple. 7 But there’s no need to check on them regarding the money they receive, because they are honest workers.”
8 The high priest Hilkiah told Shaphan the secretary: “I have found the Instruction scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Then Hilkiah turned the scroll over to Shaphan, who read it.
9 Shaphan the secretary then went to the king and reported this to him: “Your officials have released the money that was found in the temple and have handed it over to those who supervise the work in the Lord’s temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll,” and he read it out loud before the king.
54 Once the council members heard these words, they were enraged and began to grind their teeth at Stephen. 55 But Stephen, enabled by the Holy Spirit, stared into heaven and saw God’s majesty and Jesus standing at God’s right side. 56 He exclaimed, “Look! I can see heaven on display and the Human One[a] standing at God’s right side!” 57 At this, they shrieked and covered their ears. Together, they charged at him, 58 threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses placed their coats in the care of a young man named Saul. 59 As they battered him with stones, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, accept my life!” 60 Falling to his knees, he shouted, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” Then he died. 8 1 Saul was in full agreement with Stephen’s murder.
The church scatters
At that time, the church in Jerusalem began to be subjected to vicious harassment. Everyone except the apostles was scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible