Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 98[a]
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,[b]
for he performs[c] amazing deeds.
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance.[d]
2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;[e]
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.[f]
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.[g]
4 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out in a joyful shout and sing!
5 Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,
accompanied by a harp and the sound of music.
6 With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,
shout out praises before the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,
along with the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
9 before the Lord.
For he comes to judge the earth.
He judges the world fairly,[h]
and the nations in a just manner.
The Gibeonites Demand Revenge
21 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord.[a] The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family,[b] because he murdered the Gibeonites.”
2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to[c] them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.) 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless[d] the Lord’s inheritance?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We[e] have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family,[f] nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel.” David asked,[g] “What then are you asking me to do for you?” 5 They replied to the king, “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel— 6 let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute[h] them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.”[i] The king replied, “I will turn them over.”
7 The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab[j] whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them[k] died[l] together; they were put to death during harvest time—during the first days of the beginning[m] of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them,[n] she did not allow the birds of the air to feed[o] on them by day, nor the wild animals[p] by night. 11 When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he[q] went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan[r] from the leaders[s] of Jabesh Gilead. (They had secretly taken[t] them from the plaza at Beth Shan. It was there that Philistines[u] publicly exposed their corpses[v] after[w] they[x] had killed Saul at Gilboa.) 13 David[y] brought the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there; they also gathered up the bones of those who had been executed.
14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything[z] that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers[aa] for the land.
Thanksgiving
3 We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters,[a] and rightly so,[b] because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater. 4 As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.
Encouragement in Persecution
5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy[c] of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering. 6 For it is right[d] for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed[e] from heaven with his mighty angels.[f] 8 With flaming fire he will mete out[g] punishment on those who do not know God[h] and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They[i] will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,[j] 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired[k] on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony.[l] 11 And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling[m] and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to[n] the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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