Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, ^[a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “^(A)If you return to the Lord with all your heart, ^(B)remove the foreign gods and the ^(C)Ashtaroth from among you and ^(D)direct your hearts to the Lord and ^(E)serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to ^(F)Mizpah and ^(G)I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^(H)poured it out before the Lord, and ^(I)fasted on that day and said there, “^(J)We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, ^(K)they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(L)Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ Samuel took ^(M)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and ^(N)the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But ^(O)the Lord thundered with a great ^[a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(P)confused them, so that they were ^[b]routed before Israel. ¹¹ The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(Q)took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[c]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” ^13 (R)So the Philistines were subdued and ^(S)they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

The Impartiality of God

2 Therefore you have ^(A)no excuse, ^[a](B)everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which ^(C)you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God ^[b]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, ^(D)O man, ^[c]when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of ^(E)the riches of His ^(F)kindness and ^(G)tolerance and ^(H)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But ^[d]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^(I)you are storing up wrath for yourself ^(J)in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ^6 (K)who will render to each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by ^(L)perseverance in doing good seek for ^(M)glory and honor and ^(N)immortality, ^(O)eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are ^(P)selfishly ambitious and ^(Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be ^(R)tribulation and distress ^[e]for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew ^(S)first and also of the Greek, ¹⁰ but ^(T)glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew ^(U)first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(V)there is no partiality with God.