Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Call to Worship and Obedience
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with (A)psalms.
3 For (B)the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 [a]In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 (C)The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let (D)us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (E)we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep [b]of His hand.
(F)Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the [c]rebellion,
(G)As in the day of [d]trial in the wilderness,
9 When (H)your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they (I)saw My work.
10 For (J)forty years I was [e]grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So (K)I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
David Anointed King
16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, (A)“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? (B)Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to (C)Jesse the Bethlehemite. For (D)I have [a]provided Myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, (E)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”
4 So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town (F)trembled at his coming, and said, (G)“Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. (H)Sanctify[b] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at (I)Eliab and (J)said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, (K)“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have [c]refused him. (L)For[d] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man (M)looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the (N)heart.”
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the (O)sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not [e]sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was (P)ruddy, (Q)with [f]bright eyes, and good-looking. (R)And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and (S)the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
Shepherd the Flock
5 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a (A)witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the (B)glory that will be revealed: 2 (C)Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, (D)not by compulsion but [a]willingly, (E)not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as (F)being [b]lords over (G)those entrusted to you, but (H)being examples to the flock; 4 and when (I)the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive (J)the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Submit to God, Resist the Devil
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, (K)all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.