Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ ¶ O LORD God of the hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.

⁹ Behold, O God our shield and look upon the face of thine anointed,

¹⁰ for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand outside of them. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield unto us; the LORD will give grace and glory; he will not withhold good from those that walk uprightly.

¹² O LORD of the hosts, happy is the man that trusts in thee.

2 ¶ And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the LORD, my horn is exalted in the LORD; my mouth is enlarged over my enemies because I have rejoiced in thy saving health.

² There is none holy as the LORD, for there is none beside thee; neither is there any strong One like our God.

³ Do not multiply thyself speaking great and lofty things; let arrogant words cease from your mouth, for the LORD is the all-knowing God, and the magnificent works are his.

⁴ The bows of the mighty men have been broken, and the weak are girded with strength.

⁵ Those that were full have hired themselves out for bread, and those that were hungry ceased so that the barren has given birth to seven, and she that has many children is waxed feeble.

⁶ The LORD kills, and he gives life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

⁷ The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and lifts up.

⁸ He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them.

⁹ He keeps the feet of his saints, and the wicked perish in darkness, for no man shall prevail by their own strength.

¹⁰ LORD, thine adversaries shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven he shall thunder upon them. The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. {Heb. Messiah}

¹² ¶ Beloved, think it not strange when you are tried by fire (which is done to prove you) as though some strange thing happened unto you,

¹³ but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of the afflictions of the Christ, so that also in the revelation of his glory, ye may rejoice in triumph.

¹⁴ If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; for the glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you; certainly on their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.

¹⁵ So let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as desirous of the things of others.

¹⁶ But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.

¹⁷ For it is time that the judgment begins from the house of God; and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of those that do not obey the gospel of God?

¹⁸ And if the righteous are saved with difficulty, where shall the unfaithful and the sinner appear?

¹⁹ Therefore, let those that are afflicted according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls unto him as unto a faithful Creator, doing good.