Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 54
For the music leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil[a] of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”
54 God! Save me by your name;
defend me by your might!
2 God! Hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my mouth!
3 The proud have come up against me;
violent people want me dead.
They pay no attention to God. Selah
4 But look here: God is my helper;
my Lord sustains my life.
5 He will bring disaster on my opponents.
By your faithfulness, God, destroy them!
6 I will sacrifice to you freely;
I will give thanks to your name, Lord,
because it’s so good,
7 and because God has delivered me
from every distress.
My eyes have seen my enemies’ defeat.[b]
24 Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, approached Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. “Just how did the Lord’s spirit leave me to speak to you?” he asked.
25 Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room.”
26 “Arrest him,” ordered Israel’s king, “and turn him over to Amon the city official and to Joash the king’s son. 27 Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.’”
28 “If you ever return safely,” Micaiah replied, “then the Lord wasn’t speaking through me.” Then he added, “Pay attention, every last one of you!”
29 So Israel’s king and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat attacked Ramoth-gilead. 30 Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself when we go into battle,[a] but you should wear your royal attire.” When Israel’s king had disguised himself, they entered the battle.
31 Meanwhile, Aram’s king had commanded his thirty-two chariot officers, “Don’t bother with anyone big or small. Fight only with Israel’s king.”
32 As soon as the chariot officers saw Jehoshaphat, they assumed that he must be Israel’s king, so they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out for help. 33 When the chariot officers realized that he wasn’t Israel’s king, they stopped chasing him. 34 But someone randomly shot an arrow that struck Israel’s king between the joints in his armor.[b]
“Turn around and get me out of the battle,” the king told his chariot driver. “I’ve been hit!”
35 While the battle raged all that day, the king stood propped up in the chariot facing the Arameans. But that evening he died after his blood had poured from his wound into the chariot. 36 When the sun set, a shout spread throughout the camp: “Retreat to your towns! Retreat to your land!” 37 Once the king had died, people came from Samaria and buried the king there. 38 They cleaned the chariot at the pool of Samaria. The dogs licked up the king’s blood and the prostitutes bathed in it, just as the Lord had spoken.
Ahab’s last days
39 The rest of Ahab’s deeds and all that he did—including the ivory palace he built and all the towns he constructed—aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? 40 Ahab lay down with his ancestors. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
All Israel will be saved
25 I don’t want you to be unaware of this secret,[a] brothers and sisters. That way you won’t think too highly of yourselves. A part of Israel has become resistant until the full number of the Gentiles comes in. 26 In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
The deliverer will come from Zion.
He will remove ungodly behavior from Jacob.
27 This is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.[b]
28 According to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but according to God’s choice, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. 29 God’s gifts and calling can’t be taken back. 30 Once you were disobedient to God, but now you have mercy because they were disobedient. 31 In the same way, they have also been disobedient because of the mercy that you received, so now they can receive mercy too. 32 God has locked up all people in disobedience, in order to have mercy on all of them.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible