1 Kings 3:5-14

[5]At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." [6]And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. [7]And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. [8]And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. [9]Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?"

[10]It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. [11]God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right [12]I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. [13]I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. [14]If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life."

1 Kings 17:17-24

[17]After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. [18]She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" [19]But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. [20]He cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" [21]Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again." [22]The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. [23]Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." [24]So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

Psalm 96

[1] O sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
[2] Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
[3] Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
[4] For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
[5] For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
[6] Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
[7] Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
[8] Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
[9] Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.

[10] Say among the nations, "The LORD is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity."
[11] Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
[12] let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
[13] before the LORD; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

Isaiah 54:1-13

[1]Sing, O barren one who did not bear;  

     burst into song and shout,  

     you who have not been in labor!  

For the children of the desolate woman will be more  

     than the children of her that is married, says the LORD.  

[2]Enlarge the site of your tent,  

     and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;  

do not hold back; lengthen your cords  

     and strengthen your stakes.  

[3]For you will spread out to the right and to the left,  

     and your descendants will possess the nations  

     and will settle the desolate towns.

[4]Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;  

     do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;  

for you will forget the shame of your youth,  

     and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.  

[5]For your Maker is your husband,  

     the LORD of hosts is his name;  

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,  

     the God of the whole earth he is called.  

[6]For the LORD has called you  

     like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,  

like the wife of a man's youth when she is cast off,  

     says your God.  

[7]For a brief moment I abandoned you,  

     but with great compassion I will gather you.  

[8]In overflowing wrath for a moment  

     I hid my face from you,  

but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,  

     says the LORD, your Redeemer.

[9]This is like the days of Noah to me:  

     Just as I swore that the waters of Noah  

     would never again go over the earth,  

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you  

     and will not rebuke you.  

[10]For the mountains may depart  

     and the hills be removed,  

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,  

     and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,  

     says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

[11]O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,  

     I am about to set your stones in antimony,  

     and lay your foundations with sapphires.  

[12]I will make your pinnacles of rubies,  

     your gates of jewels,  

     and all your wall of precious stones.  

[13]All your children shall be taught by the LORD,  

     and great shall be the prosperity of your children.

Proverbs 8:22-30

[22]The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,  

     the first of his acts of long ago.  

[23]Ages ago I was set up,  

     at the first, before the beginning of the earth.  

[24]When there were no depths I was brought forth,  

     when there were no springs abounding with water.  

[25]Before the mountains had been shaped,  

     before the hills, I was brought forth --  

[26]when he had not yet made earth and fields,  

     or the world's first bits of soil.  

[27]When he established the heavens, I was there,  

     when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,  

[28]when he made firm the skies above,  

     when he established the fountains of the deep,  

[29]when he assigned to the sea its limit,  

     so that the waters might not transgress his command,  

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,  

[30]  then I was beside him, like a master worker;  

and I was daily his delight,  

     rejoicing before him always.

Acts 6:1-7

[1]Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. [2]And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. [3]Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, [4]while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word." [5]What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. [6]They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

[7]The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Micah 4:1-5, 5:2-4

4:1In days to come
the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
[2]and many nations shall come and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
[3]He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
[4]but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
[5]For all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.

5:2But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
[3]Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
[4]And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;