Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

David's Song of Victory^{[a] (A)}

³ Samuel said to the people of Israel, “If you are going to turn to the Lord with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and the images of the goddess Astarte. Dedicate yourselves completely to the Lord and worship only him, and he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the Lord.

⁵ Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah, telling them, “I will pray to the Lord for you there.” ⁶ So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” (It was at Mizpah where Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites.)

⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the five Philistine kings started out with their men to attack them. The Israelites heard about it and were afraid, ⁸ and said to Samuel, “Keep praying to the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines.” ^9 (A)Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to the Lord. Then he prayed to the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered his prayer. ¹⁰ While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack; but just then the Lord thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic. ¹¹ The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines almost as far as Bethcar, killing them along the way.

¹² Then Samuel took a stone, set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and said, “The Lord has helped us all the way”—and he named it “Stone of Help.” ¹³ So the Philistines were defeated, and the Lord prevented them from invading Israel's territory as long as Samuel lived.

God's Judgment

2 ^(A)Do you, my friend, pass judgment on others? You have no excuse at all, whoever you are. For when you judge others and then do the same things which they do, you condemn yourself. ² We know that God is right when he judges the people who do such things as these. ³ But you, my friend, do those very things for which you pass judgment on others! Do you think you will escape God's judgment? ^4 (B)Or perhaps you despise his great kindness, tolerance, and patience. Surely you know that God is kind, because he is trying to lead you to repent. ⁵ But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed. ^6 (C)For God will reward each of us according to what we have done. ⁷ Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life. ⁸ Other people are selfish and reject what is right, in order to follow what is wrong; on them God will pour out his anger and fury. ⁹ There will be suffering and pain for all those who do what is evil, for the Jews first and also for the Gentiles. ¹⁰ But God will give glory, honor, and peace to all who do what is good, to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. ^11 (D)For God judges everyone by the same standard.