Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A psalm.
98 Sing a new song to the Lord
because he has done miraculous things.
His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known.
He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see.
3 He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful
to Israel’s descendants.
All the ends of the earth have seen how our God saves ⌞them⌟.
4 Shout happily to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out into joyful singing, and make music.
5 Make music to the Lord with a lyre,
with a lyre and the melody of a psalm,
6 with trumpets and the playing of a ram’s horn.
Shout happily in the presence of the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea, everything in it,
the world, and those who live in it roar like thunder.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains sing joyfully
9 in the Lord’s presence
because he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and its people with fairness.
David and the People of Gibeon
21 In the time of David, there was a famine for three successive years, and David asked the Lord’s advice about it. The Lord answered, “It’s because of Saul and his family. They are guilty of murder because they killed the people of Gibeon.”
2 (The Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were left over from the Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn ⌞to spare them⌟, Saul, in his eagerness, tried to destroy them for Israel and Judah.)
The king called the Gibeonites 3 and asked them, “What can I do for you? What should I ⌞give you⌟ to make peace with you so that you will bless what belongs to the Lord?”
4 “We do not want silver or gold from Saul’s family,” the Gibeonites answered him. “And none of us wants to kill ⌞anyone⌟ in Israel.”
The king asked, “What are you saying that I should do for you?”
5 They answered the king, “Give us seven of the male descendants of the man who wanted to finish us off. He planned to wipe us out to keep us from staying anywhere in Israel’s territory. 6 We will execute them in the Lord’s presence at Saul’s town Gibeah.” (It was Saul whom the Lord had chosen.)
“I will give them ⌞to you⌟,” the king said.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, because of the oath in the Lord’s name between David and Jonathan, son of Saul. 8 The king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah (Aiah’s daughter) gave birth to for Saul, and five sons whom Merab [a] (Saul’s daughter) gave birth to for Adriel, son of Barzillai from Meholah. 9 The king handed them over to the Gibeonites, who executed them on the mountain in the Lord’s presence. All seven died together. They were killed at the beginning of the harvest, when people started harvesting barley.
10 Rizpah (Aiah’s daughter) took sackcloth and stretched it out on the rock for herself from the beginning of the harvest until the sky rained on the dead bodies. She wouldn’t let any birds land on them during the day or any wild animals come near them during the night.
11 When David was told what Saul’s concubine [b] Rizpah (Aiah’s daughter) had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. They had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shean, where the Philistines had hung them the day they killed Saul at Gilboa. 13 When David brought up the bones of Saul and Jonathan, his men gathered the bones of those who had been executed. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, in Zela, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. They did everything the king ordered. After that, God answered the prayers for the land.
Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians
3 We always have to thank God for you, brothers and sisters. It’s right to do this because your faith is showing remarkable growth and your love for each other is increasing. 4 That’s why we brag in God’s churches about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and suffering you are experiencing. 5 Your suffering proves that God’s judgment is right and that you are considered worthy of his kingdom.
6 Certainly, it is right for God to give suffering to those who cause you to suffer. 7 It is also right for God to give all of us relief from our suffering. He will do this when the Lord Jesus is revealed, ⌞coming⌟ from heaven with his mighty angels in a blazing fire. 8 He will take revenge on those who refuse to acknowledge God and on those who refuse to respond to the Good News about our Lord Jesus. 9 They will pay the penalty by being destroyed forever, by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power. 10 ⌞This will happen⌟ on that day when he comes to be honored among all his holy people and admired by all who have believed in him. This includes you because you believed the testimony we gave you.
11 With this in mind, we always pray that our God will make you worthy of his call. We also pray that through ⌞his⌟ power he will help you accomplish every good desire and help you do everything your faith produces. 12 That way the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored among you. Then, because of the good will of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, you will be honored by him.
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