Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, ^[a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued 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 are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then ^(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 save 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 So 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 at Mizpah, the governors of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard about it, ^(K)they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(L)Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines!” ⁹ Samuel took ^(M)a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and ^(N)the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines advanced to battle 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 struck down before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(Q)took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[b]Ebenezer, saying, “^[c]So 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]you foolish person, ^(B)everyone of you who passes judgment; for ^[b]in that matter in which ^(C)you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God ^[c]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, ^[d](D)you foolish person who passes judgment on those who practice such things, and yet does them as well, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of ^(E)the riches of His ^(F)kindness and ^[e](G)restraint and ^(H)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But ^[f]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^(I)you are storing up wrath for yourself ^(J)on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ^6 (K)who will repay each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by ^(L)perseverance in doing good seek ^(M)glory, honor, and ^(N)immortality, He will give ^(O)eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are ^(P)self-serving and ^(Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be ^(R)tribulation and distress ^[g]for every soul of mankind who does evil, ^[h]for the Jew ^(S)first and also ^[i]for the Greek, ¹⁰ but ^(T)glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew ^(U)first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(V)there is no partiality with God.