Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 98[a]
The Coming of God
1 A psalm.
I
Sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has done marvelous deeds.(A)
His right hand and holy arm
have won the victory.[b](B)
2 The Lord has made his victory known;
has revealed his triumph in the sight of the nations,
3 He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
II
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
break into song; sing praise.
5 Sing praise to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and melodious song.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout with joy to the King, the Lord.(C)
III
3 Now, Samuel was dead. All Israel had mourned him and buried him in his city, Ramah. Meanwhile Saul had driven mediums and diviners out of the land.(A)
Saul in Despair. 4 The Philistines rallied and, coming to Shunem, they encamped. Saul, too, mustered all Israel; they camped on Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he grew afraid and lost heart completely. 6 He consulted the Lord; but the Lord gave no answer, neither in dreams nor by Urim nor through prophets.(B) 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a medium[a] through whom I can seek counsel.” His servants answered him, “There is a woman in Endor who is a medium.”(C)
The Medium at Endor. 8 So he disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and set out with two companions. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said to her, “Divine for me; conjure up the spirit I tell you.”(D) 9 But the woman answered him, “You know what Saul has done, how he expelled the mediums and diviners from the land. Then why are you trying to entrap me and get me killed?” 10 But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, you shall incur no blame for this.” 11 “Whom do you want me to conjure up?” the woman asked him. “Conjure up Samuel for me,” he replied.
Samuel Appears. 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she shrieked at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” 13 But the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” “I see a god rising from the earth,” she replied. 14 “What does he look like?” asked Saul. “An old man is coming up wrapped in a robe,” she replied. Saul knew that it was Samuel, and so he bowed his face to the ground in homage.
Saul’s Doom. 15 [b]Samuel then said to Saul, “Why do you disturb me by conjuring me up?” Saul replied: “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are waging war against me and God has turned away from me. Since God no longer answers me through prophets or in dreams, I have called upon you to tell me what I should do.”(E) 16 To this Samuel said: “But why do you ask me, if the Lord has abandoned you for your neighbor?(F) 17 The Lord has done to you what he declared through me: he has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David.
18 “Because you disobeyed the Lord’s directive and would not carry out his fierce anger against Amalek, the Lord has done this to you today.(G) 19 Moreover, the Lord will deliver Israel, and you as well, into the hands of the Philistines. By tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will have delivered the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”(H)
Punishment of Idolaters. 18 [a]The wrath[b] of God[c] is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness(A) of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.(B) 20 Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.(C) As a result, they have no excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.(D) 22 While claiming to be wise,(E) they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.(F)
24 Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts[d] for the mutual degradation of their bodies.(G) 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.(H)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.