Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Help
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “We think David is hiding among our people.”
54 God, save me because of who you are.
By your strength show that I am innocent.
2 Hear my prayer, God.
Listen to what I say.
3 Strangers turn against me.
Cruel men want to kill me.
They do not care about God. Selah
4 See, God will help me.
The Lord will spare my life.
5 Let my enemies be punished with their own evil.
Destroy them because you are loyal to me.
6 I will offer a sacrifice as a special gift to you.
I will thank you, Lord, because you are good.
7 You have saved me from all my troubles.
I have seen my enemies defeated.
24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up to Micaiah. And he hit Micaiah in the face. Zedekiah said, “Do you really believe the Lord’s spirit has left me and is now speaking through you?”
25 Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inside room.”
26 Then Ahab king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah. Send him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son. 27 Tell them I said to put Micaiah in prison. Give him only bread and water for food. Keep him there until I come home from the battle.”
28 Micaiah said, “Ahab, if you come back safely from battle, the Lord has not spoken through me. Remember my words, all you people.”
29 So Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went to Ramoth in Gilead. 30 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will go into battle. But I will change my appearance so that no one will recognize me. But you wear your royal clothes.” So Ahab changed his appearance and went into battle.
31 The king of Aram had 32 chariot commanders. He ordered them, “Don’t fight with anyone but the king of Israel. It doesn’t matter if they are important or unimportant.” 32 When these commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel. So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat began shouting. 33 Then the commanders saw he was not Ahab. So they stopped chasing him. 34 A soldier shot an arrow without aiming at anyone. But he hit Ahab king of Israel. The arrow hit him in a place not covered by his armor. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn the chariot around. Take me out of the battle. I am hurt!” 35 The battle continued all day. King Ahab was in his chariot, leaning against it to hold himself up. He was facing the Arameans. His blood flowed down and covered the bottom of the chariot. That evening he died. 36 Near sunset a cry went out through the army of Israel: “Each man go back to his own country and city.”
37 So in that way King Ahab died. His body was carried to Samaria and buried there. 38 The men cleaned Ahab’s chariot at a pool in Samaria. This was a pool where prostitutes bathed. And the dogs licked King Ahab’s blood from the chariot. These things happened as the Lord had said they would.
39 Everything else Ahab did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. That book also tells about the palace Ahab built and decorated with ivory. And it tells about the cities he built. 40 So Ahab died, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.
25 I want you to understand this secret truth, brothers. This truth will help you understand that you do not know everything. The truth is this: Part of Israel has been made stubborn. But that will change when many non-Jews have come to God. 26 And that is how all Israel will be saved. It is written in the Scriptures:
“The Savior will come from Jerusalem;
he will take away all evil from the family of Jacob.[a]
27 And I will make this agreement with those people
when I take away their sins.” Isaiah 59:20-21; 27:9
28 The Jews refuse to accept the Good News, so they are God’s enemies. This has happened to help you non-Jews. But the Jews are still God’s chosen people, and God loves them very much. He loves them because of the promises he made to their ancestors. 29 God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things he gives them. 30 At one time you refused to obey God. But now you have received mercy, because those people refused to obey. 31 And now the Jews refuse to obey, because God showed mercy to you. But this happened so that they also can[b] receive mercy from God. 32 All people have refused to obey God. God has given them all over to their stubborn ways, so that God can show mercy to all.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.