); Wisdom 4:7-15 (The righteous are rewarded); Acts 7:59—8:8 (Stephen is stoned to death) (English Standard Version)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise the Name of the Lord
148 (A)Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord (B)from the heavens;
praise him (C)in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his (D)hosts!
3 Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you (E)highest heavens,
and you (F)waters above the heavens!
5 (G)Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For (H)he commanded and they were created.
6 And he (I)established them forever and ever;
he gave (J)a decree, and it shall not (K)pass away.[a]
7 Praise the Lord (L)from the earth,
you (M)great sea creatures and all deeps,
8 (N)fire and hail, (O)snow and mist,
(P)stormy wind (Q)fulfilling his word!
9 (R)Mountains and all hills,
(S)fruit trees and all (T)cedars!
10 (U)Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and (V)flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and (W)all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!
59 And as they were stoning Stephen, (A)he called out, “Lord Jesus, (B)receive my spirit.” 60 And (C)falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, (D)“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, (E)he fell asleep.
Saul Ravages the Church
8 And (F)Saul (G)approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and (H)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But (I)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he (J)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria
4 Now (K)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 (L)Philip went down to the city[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 (M)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him (N)and saw the signs that he did. 7 For (O)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So (P)there was much joy in that city.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.