); Wisdom 4:7-15 (The righteous are rewarded); Acts 7:59—8:8 (Stephen is stoned to death) (New King James Version)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Lord from Creation
148 Praise[a] the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
2 Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
4 Praise Him, (A)you heavens of heavens,
And (B)you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For (C)He commanded and they were created.
6 (D)He also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(E)You great sea creatures and all the depths;
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
9 (F)Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His (G)name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 And He (H)has exalted the [b]horn of His people,
The praise of (I)all His saints—
Of the children of Israel,
(J)A people near to Him.
[c]Praise the Lord!
59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, (A)receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, (B)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and (C)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and (D)made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, (E)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Christ Is Preached in Samaria
4 Therefore (F)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then (G)Philip went down to [a]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For (H)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.