Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God in the Thunderstorm
A psalm of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you angels;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name;
worship the Lord because he is holy.
3 The Lord’s voice is heard over the sea.
The glorious God thunders;
the Lord thunders over the ocean.
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful;
the Lord’s voice is majestic.
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the trees;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf
and Mount Hermon jump like a baby bull.
7 The Lord’s voice makes the lightning flash.
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice shakes the oaks
and strips the leaves off the trees.
In his Temple everyone says, “Glory to God!”
10 The Lord controls the flood.
The Lord will be King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
3 Samuel spoke to the whole group of Israel, saying, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must remove your foreign gods and your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines.”
4 So the Israelites put away their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth, and they served only the Lord.
5 Samuel said, “All Israel must meet at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So the Israelites met together at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel served as judge of Israel at Mizpah.
7 The Philistines heard the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah, so the Philistine kings came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard they were coming, they were afraid. 8 They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!” 9 Then Samuel took a baby lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He called to the Lord for Israel’s sake, and the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistines came near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered against them with loud thunder. They were so frightened they became confused. So the Israelites defeated the Philistines in battle. 11 The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines almost to Beth Car, killing the Philistines along the way.
Peace Comes to Israel
12 After this happened Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer,[a] saying, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” 13 So the Philistines were defeated and did not enter the Israelites’ land again.
The Lord was against the Philistines all Samuel’s life. 14 Earlier the Philistines had taken towns from the Israelites, but the Israelites won them back, from Ekron to Gath. They also took back from the Philistines the lands near these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel continued as judge of Israel all his life. 16 Every year he went from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah and judged the Israelites in all these towns. 17 But Samuel always went back to Ramah, where his home was. There he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord.
19 After he ate some food, his strength returned.
Saul Preaches in Damascus
Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. 20 Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God.”
21 All the people who heard him were amazed. They said, “This is the man who was in Jerusalem trying to destroy those who trust in this name! He came here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to the leading priests.”
22 But Saul grew more powerful. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that his own people in Damascus could not argue with him.
23 After many days, they made plans to kill Saul. 24 They were watching the city gates day and night, but Saul learned about their plan. 25 One night some followers of Saul helped him leave the city by lowering him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.
Saul Preaches in Jerusalem
26 When Saul went to Jerusalem, he tried to join the group of followers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he was really a follower. 27 But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas explained to them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 And so Saul stayed with the followers, going everywhere in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He would often talk and argue with the Jewish people who spoke Greek, but they were trying to kill him. 30 When the followers learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and from there sent him to Tarsus.
31 The church everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace and became stronger. Respecting the Lord by the way they lived, and being encouraged by the Holy Spirit, the group of believers continued to grow.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.