Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

For the director of music. A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang the words of this song to the Lord. He sang them when the Lord saved him. He saved him from the power of all his enemies and of Saul. David said,

³ So Samuel spoke to all the Israelites. He said, “Do you really want to return to the Lord with all your hearts? If you do, get rid of your false gods. Get rid of your statues of female gods that are named Ashtoreth. Commit yourselves to the Lord. Serve him only. Then he will save you from the power of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites put away their statues of gods that were named Baal. They put away their statues of female gods that were named Ashtoreth. They served the Lord only.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all the Israelites together at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ When the people had come together at Mizpah, they went to the well and got water. They poured it out in front of the Lord. On that day they didn’t eat any food. They admitted they had sinned. They said, “We’ve sinned against the Lord.” Samuel was serving as the leader of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ The Philistines heard that Israel had gathered together at Mizpah. So the Philistine rulers came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God to help us. Keep praying that he’ll save us from the power of the Philistines.” ⁹ Then Samuel got a very young lamb. He sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord to help Israel. And the Lord answered his prayer.

¹⁰ The Philistines came near to attack Israel. At that time Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering. But that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He threw them into such a panic that the Israelites were able to chase them away. ¹¹ The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah. They chased the Philistines all the way to a point below Beth Kar. They killed them all along the way.

¹² Then Samuel got a big stone. He set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer. He said, “The Lord has helped us every step of the way.”

¹³ So the Philistines were brought under Israel’s control. The Philistines didn’t attack their territory again. The Lord used his power against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived.

God Judges Fairly

2 If you judge someone else, you have no excuse for it. When you judge another person, you are judging yourself. You do the same things you blame others for doing. ² We know that when God judges those who do evil things, he judges fairly. ³ Though you are only a human being, you judge others. But you yourself do the same things. So how do you think you will escape when God judges you? ⁴ Do you disrespect God’s great kindness and favor? Do you disrespect God when he is patient with you? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is meant to turn you away from your sins?

⁵ But you are stubborn. In your heart you are not sorry for your sins. You are storing up anger against yourself. The day of God’s anger is coming. Then his way of judging fairly will be shown. ⁶ God “will pay back each person in keeping with what they have done.” (Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12) ⁷ God will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good. They want glory, honor, and life that never ends. ⁸ But there are others who only look out for themselves. They don’t accept the truth. They go astray. God will pour out his great anger on them. ⁹ There will be trouble and suffering for everyone who does evil. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles. ¹⁰ But there will be glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles. ¹¹ God treats everyone the same.