Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God in the Thunderstorm
A song of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you angels.
Praise the Lord’s glory and power.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord because he is holy.
3 The Lord’s voice is heard over the sea.
The glorious God thunders.
The Lord thunders over the great ocean.
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful.
The Lord’s voice is majestic.
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the trees.
The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf.
He makes Mount Hermon jump like a baby bull.
7 The Lord’s voice makes the lightning flash.
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the desert.
The Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice shakes the oaks.
The leaves fall off the trees.
In his Temple everyone says, “Glory to God!”
10 The Lord controls the flood.
The Lord will be King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people.
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
3 Samuel spoke to the whole group of Israel. He said, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must remove your foreign gods. You must remove your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines.”
4 So the Israelites put away their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth. And they served only the Lord.
5 Samuel said, “All Israel must meet at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So the Israelites met together at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord. They did not eat that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel served as judge of Israel at Mizpah.
7 The Philistines heard the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah. So the Philistine kings came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard they were coming, they were afraid. 8 They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us! Ask the Lord to save us from the Philistines!” 9 Then Samuel took a baby lamb. He offered the lamb to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He called to the Lord for Israel’s sake. And the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistines came near. They were going to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered against the Philistines with loud thunder. They were so frightened they became confused. So the Israelites defeated the Philistines in battle. 11 The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines. They went almost to Beth Car, killing the Philistines along the way.
Peace Comes to Israel
12 After this happened Samuel took a stone. He set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer.[a] Samuel said, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” 13 So the Philistines were defeated. They did not enter the Israelites’ land again.
The Lord was against the Philistines all Samuel’s life. 14 Earlier the Philistines had taken towns from the Israelites. But the Israelites won them back, from Ekron to Gath. They also took back from the Philistines the neighboring lands of these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel continued as judge of Israel all his life. 16 Every year he went from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah. He judged the Israelites in all these towns. 17 But Samuel always went back to Ramah, where his home was. He also judged Israel there. And there he built an altar to the Lord.
19 After eating some food, his strength returned.
Saul Preaches in Damascus
Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. 20 Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God!”
21 All the people who heard him were amazed. They said, “This is the man who was in Jerusalem. He was trying to destroy those who trust in this name! He came here to do the same thing. He came here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to the leading priests.”
22 But Saul became more and more powerful. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that the Jews in Damascus could not argue with him.
Saul Escapes from Damascus
23 After many days, the Jews made plans to kill Saul. 24 They were watching the city gates day and night. They wanted to kill him, but Saul learned about their plan. 25 One night some followers of Saul helped him leave the city. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.
Saul in Jerusalem
26 Then Saul went to Jerusalem. He tried to join the group of followers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he was really a follower. 27 But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas told them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road. He explained how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 And so Saul stayed with the followers. He went everywhere in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of Jesus. 29 He would often talk and argue with the Jews who spoke Greek. But they were trying to kill him. 30 When the brothers learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea. From there they sent him to Tarsus.
31 The church everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the group became stronger. The believers showed that they respected the Lord by the way they lived. Because of this, the group of believers grew larger and larger.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.