Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to Yahweh for His Salvation and Judgment
A psalm.[a]
98 Sing to[b] Yahweh a new song, for he has done wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm have secured his victory.
2 Yahweh has made known his salvation;[c]
to the eyes of the nations he has revealed his righteousness.
3 He has remembered his loyal love and his faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation[d] of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to Yahweh, all the earth.
Be cheerful[e] and sing for joy and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to Yahweh with lyre,
with lyre and melodious sound.
6 With trumpets and sound of horn,
shout joyfully before the king, Yahweh.
7 Let the sea with[f] its fullness roar,
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the hills sing joyfully together
9 before Yahweh, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
The Famine Brings Justice
21 There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David inquired of Yahweh,[a] and Yahweh said, “The bloodguilt is on Saul and on his household, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not from the Israelites;[b] they were from the remainder of the Amorites. Now the Israelites[c] had sworn to them,[d] but Saul tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the Israelites[e] and Judah. 3 So David asked the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you, and with what can I make amends that you may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter for us of[f] silver or gold with Saul or with his household. It is not for us to put to death anyone in Israel.” He asked, “What are you saying that I should do for you all?” 5 Then they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who plotted against us so that we were destroyed from existing in all of the territory of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given over to us, and we will execute them before Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen one of Yahweh.” Then the king said, “I will give them over.” 7 But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the sworn oath of Yahweh which was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 So the king took two of the sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, namely Armoni and Mephibosheth, and five of the sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they executed them on the mountain in the presence of Yahweh, and the seven fell together. Now they were put to death in the days of the harvest, at the beginning of the harvest of barley.
10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took the sackcloth, and she spread it for herself on the rock at the beginning of the harvest until water gushed forth on them from heaven, but she did not allow the birds of heaven to rest on them by day nor the animals of the field by night. 11 David was told about what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David left and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the rulers of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines hung them when[g] the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of the executed. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin at Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. They did all that the king had commanded, and afterward God was entreated for the land.
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonian Believers
3 We ought to give thanks to God always concerning you, brothers, just as it is fitting, because your faith is flourishing and the love of each one of you all toward one another is increasing 4 so that we ourselves boast in you in the churches of God about your patient endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring, 5 a proof of the righteous judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, on behalf of which also you are suffering, 6 since it is righteous in the sight of God to pay back those who are afflicting you with affliction, 7 and to you who are being afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, 8 with burning flame[a] giving punishment to those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, 9 who will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 whenever he should come to be glorified on that day by his saints and to be marveled at by all who believe, because our testimony was believed among you, 11 for which purpose we also pray always for you, that you may be considered worthy of the calling of our God, and he might fulfill every desire for goodness and work of faith with power,[b] 12 in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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