Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 28

[A Psalm] of David.

¹ Unto You do I cry, O Lord my Rock, be not deaf and silent to me, lest, if You be silent to me, I become like those going down to the pit [the grave].

² Hear the voice of my supplication as I cry to You for help, as I lift up my hands toward Your innermost sanctuary (the Holy of Holies).

³ Drag me not away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace with their neighbors, but malice and mischief are in their hearts.

⁴ Repay them according to their work and according to the wickedness of their doings; repay them according to the work of their hands; render to them what they deserve.^(A)

⁵ Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operations of His hands, He will break them down and not rebuild them.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications.

⁷ The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.

⁸ The Lord is their [unyielding] Strength, and He is the Stronghold of salvation to [me] His anointed.

⁹ Save Your people and bless Your heritage; nourish and shepherd them and carry them forever.

14 Samson went down to Timnah and at Timnah saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.

² And he came up and told his father and mother, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.

³ But his father and mother said to him, Is there not a woman among the daughters of your kinsmen or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is all right in my eyes.

⁴ His father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, and that He sought an occasion for assailing the Philistines. At that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

⁵ Then Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah and came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him.

⁶ And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

⁷ And he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.

⁸ And after a while he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the body of the lion, and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

⁹ And he scraped some of the honey out into his hands and went along eating. And he came to his father and mother and gave them some, and they ate it; but he did not tell them he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.

¹⁰ His father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there, for that was the customary thing for young men to do.

¹¹ And when the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹² And Samson said to them, I will now put forth a riddle to you; if you can tell me what it is within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen undergarments and thirty changes of raiment.

¹³ But if you cannot declare it to me, then shall you give me thirty linen undergarments and thirty changes of festive [costly] raiment. And they said to him, Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it.

¹⁴ And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not solve the riddle in three days.

¹⁵ And on the seventh day they said to Samson’s wife, Entice your husband to declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s household with fire. Have you invited us to make us poor? Is this not true?

¹⁶ And Samson’s wife wept before him and said, You only hate me, you do not love me; you have put forth a riddle to my countrymen and have not told the answer to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told my father or my mother, and shall I tell you?

¹⁷ And Samson’s wife wept before him the seven days their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him with entreaties. Then she told the riddle to her countrymen.

¹⁸ And the men of the city said to [Samson] on the seventh day before sundown, What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.

¹⁹ And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and slew thirty men of them and took their apparel [as spoil], and gave the changes of garments to those who explained the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

²⁰ But Samson’s wife was [given] to his companion who was his [best] friend.

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.

⁴ In every prayer of mine I always make my entreaty and petition for you all with joy (delight).

⁵ [I thank my God] for your fellowship (your ^[a]sympathetic cooperation and contributions and partnership) in advancing the good news (the Gospel) from the first day [you heard it] until now.

⁶ And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

⁷ It is right and appropriate for me to have this confidence and feel this way about you all, because ^[b]you have me in your heart and I hold you in my heart as partakers and sharers, one and all with me, of grace (God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing). [This is true] both when I am shut up in prison and when I am out in the defense and confirmation of the good news (the Gospel).

⁸ For God is my witness how I long for and ^[c]pursue you all with love, in the tender mercy of Christ Jesus [Himself]!

⁹ And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may ^[d]display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],

¹⁰ So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].

¹¹ May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [^[e]that His glory may be both manifested and recognized].

¹² Now I want you to know and continue to rest assured, brethren, that what [has happened] to me [this imprisonment] has actually only served to advance and give a renewed impetus to the [spreading of the] good news (the Gospel).

¹³ So much is this a fact that throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest [here] my imprisonment has become generally known to be in Christ [that I am a prisoner in His service and for Him].

¹⁴ And [also] most of the brethren have derived fresh confidence in the Lord because of my chains and are much more bold to speak and publish fearlessly the Word of God [acting with more freedom and indifference to the consequences].