Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
23 A person’s steps are established by the Lord,
and he takes pleasure in his way.(A)
24 Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
because the Lord supports him with his hand.(B)
25 I have been young and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned
or his children begging for bread.(C)
26 He is always generous, always lending,
and his children are a blessing.(D)
27 Turn away from evil, do what is good,
and settle permanently.(E)
28 For the Lord loves justice
and will not abandon his faithful ones.(F)
They are kept safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.(G)
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it permanently.(H)
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;
his tongue speaks what is just.(I)
31 The instruction of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not falter.(J)
32 The wicked one lies in wait for the righteous
and intends to kill him;(K)
33 the Lord will not leave him
in the power of the wicked one
or allow him to be condemned when he is judged.(L)
34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land.
You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.(M)
35 I have seen a wicked, violent person
well-rooted,[a] like a flourishing native tree.(N)
36 Then I[b] passed by and noticed he was gone;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.(O)
Saul Received as King
17 Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah(A) 18 and said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:(B) ‘I brought Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God,(C) who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions. You said to him, ‘You[a] must set a king over us.’(D) Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”(E)
20 Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. 21 Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected.[b] Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected.(F) But when they searched for him, they could not find him. 22 They again inquired of the Lord,(G) “Has the man come here yet?”
The Lord replied, “There he is, hidden among the supplies.”
23 They ran and got him from there. When he stood among the people, he stood a head taller than anyone else.[c](H) 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen?(I) There is no one like him among the entire population.”
And all the people shouted,[d] “Long live the king!” (J)
25 Samuel proclaimed to the people the rights of kingship.(K) He wrote them on a scroll, which he placed in the presence of the Lord.(L) Then Samuel sent all the people home.
Inheriting the Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: 14 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.[a](A) 15 And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. 17 Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath,(B) 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.(C) 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.(D) 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner,(E) because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.(F)
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