Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Morning Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
5 Lord, ·listen [L give ear] to my words.
Understand my ·sadness [L moans; sighs].
2 ·Listen [Pay attention] to my cry for help, my King and my God,
because I pray to you.
3 Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I ·tell you what I need [or prepare a sacrifice for you; L stretch out/arrange before you],
and I ·wait for your answer [L watch].
4 You are not a God who ·is pleased with the wicked [takes delight in evil];
·you do not live with those who do evil [L evil does not sojourn with you].
5 Those people who ·make fun of you [or boast] cannot stand before ·you [L your eyes].
You hate all those who do evil.
6 You destroy ·liars [L those who speak lies];
the Lord ·hates [despises] those ·who kill and trick others [L with bloodguilt and deceit].
7 Because of your great ·love [loyalty; covenant love],
I ·can [or will] come into your ·Temple [L house].
Because I ·fear you [hold you in awe],
I can ·worship [bow down] ·in [or toward] your holy Temple.
8 Lord, since I have many enemies,
·show me the right thing to do [L lead/guide me in your righteousness].
·Show me clearly how you want me to live [L Make your way straight before me].
Ben-Hadad and Ahab Go to War
20 Ben-Hadad king of Aram ·gathered together [mobilized; mustered] all his army. There were thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots who went with him and ·surrounded [besieged] Samaria and attacked it. 2 The king sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel.
This was his message: “Ben-Hadad says, 3 ‘Your silver and gold ·belong to me [are mine], as well as the best of your wives and children.’”
4 Ahab king of Israel answered, “My ·master [lord] and king, ·I agree to what you say [L it is as you say/according to your word]. I and everything I have ·belong to you [are yours].”
5 Then the messengers came to Ahab again. They said, “Ben-Hadad says, ‘I told you before that you must give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children. 6 About this time tomorrow I will send my ·men [officials; servants], who will search everywhere in your ·palace [L house] and in the homes of your ·officers [officials; servants]. Whatever ·they want [or you value] they will take and carry off.’”
7 Then Ahab called a meeting of all the elders of his country. He said, “Ben-Hadad is looking for trouble. First he said I had to give him my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I have not refused him.”
8 The elders and all the people said, “Don’t listen to him or ·agree to this [consent].”
9 So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell my ·master [lord] the king: ‘I will do what you said at first, but ·I cannot allow this second command [this thing I cannot do].’” And King Ben-Hadad’s men carried the message back to him.
10 Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods ·punish me terribly [deal severely with me, and worse; L do to me, and even more] if I don’t completely destroy Samaria. There won’t be enough left for each of my men to get a handful of dust!”
11 Ahab answered, “Tell Ben-Hadad, ‘·The man who puts on his armor should not brag. It’s the man who lives to take it off who has the right to brag [L Let not him who puts on boast like him who takes off; C that is, boast only after victory in battle, not before].’”
12 Ben-Hadad was drinking in his tent with the ·other rulers [kings] when the message came from Ahab. Ben-Hadad commanded his men to prepare to attack the city, and they ·moved into place for battle [took their positions].
13 At the same time a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel. The prophet said, “Ahab, ·the Lord says to you [T thus says the Lord], ‘Do you see that ·big army [L great multitude]? I will hand it over to you today so you will know I am the Lord.’ ”
14 Ahab asked, “·Who will you use to defeat them [By what means; L By whom]?”
The prophet answered, “·The Lord says [T Thus says the Lord], ‘The young officers of the ·district governors [provincial commanders] will defeat them.’”
Then the king asked, “Who will ·command the main army [or attack first; begin the battle]?”
The prophet answered, “You will.”
15 So Ahab ·gathered [summoned; mustered] the young officers of the ·district governors [provincial commanders], two hundred thirty-two of them. Then he called together the ·army [L sons] of Israel, about seven thousand people in all.
16 They marched out at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two ·rulers [kings] helping him were getting drunk in their tents. 17 The young officers of the ·district governors [provincial commanders] attacked first. Ben-Hadad sent out scouts who told him that soldiers were coming from Samaria. 18 Ben-Hadad said, “They may be coming to fight, or they may be coming to ask for peace. In either case capture them alive.”
19 The young officers of the ·district governors [provincial commanders] ·led the attack [went out from the city], followed by the army of Israel. 20 Each officer of Israel killed the man who came against him. The men from Aram ran away as Israel chased them, but Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with some of his ·horsemen [cavalry; charioteers]. 21 Ahab king of Israel ·led the army [L went out] and destroyed the horses and chariots and slaughtered the Arameans.
22 Then the prophet went to Ahab king of Israel and said, “The king of Aram will attack you again ·next spring [L at the turn of the year]. So go home now and strengthen ·your army [L yourself] and see what you need to do.”
Give Yourselves to God
4 Do you know where your ·fights [conflicts; wars] and ·arguments [disputes; quarrels; battles] come from? They come from ·the selfish desires [cravings] that war ·within you [L in your members; C probably parts of the body, but could be members of the church]. 2 You ·want [desire] things, but you ·do not [or cannot] have them. So you ·are ready to kill [L murder] and are ·jealous [envious] of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and ·fight [wage war]. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because ·the reason you ask is wrong [or you ask with the wrong motives; L you ask badly/wrongly]. You want things so you ·can use [L spend] them for your own pleasures.
4 ·So, you are not loyal to God [L You adulterers!; C often adultery is used in a spiritual sense for betraying God; Jer. 3:20]! ·You should know [L Don’t you know…?] that ·loving [L friendship with] the world is ·the same as hating [L hostility/enmity toward] God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy. 5 Do you think the Scripture ·means nothing that says [or says for no reason], ·“The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone”? [or “God yearns jealously for the spirit he has made to live in us”?; or “The spirit God placed within us tends to jealously desire things”?; C for God’s jealousy for his people see Ex. 20:5; 34:14; Zech. 8:2]. 6 But God gives us even more grace, as ·the Scripture [L it; or he] says,
“God ·is against [opposes; resists] the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble [Prov. 3:34; 1 Pet. 5:5].”
7 So ·give yourselves completely [submit] to God. ·Stand against [Resist] the devil [1 Pet. 5:9], and the devil will ·run [flee] from you.
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