Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 5
The Refuge of the Righteous
For the choir director: with the flutes. A psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, Lord;
consider my sighing.(A)
2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry,(B)
my King and my God,(C)
for I pray to you.
3 In the morning,(D) Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you(E) and watch expectantly.
23 Now the king of Aram’s servants said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hill country.(A) That’s why they were stronger than we were. Instead, we should fight with them on the plain; then we will certainly be stronger than they are. 24 Also do this: remove each king from his position and appoint captains in their place. 25 Raise another army for yourself like the army you lost—horse for horse, chariot for chariot—and let’s fight with them on the plain; and we will certainly be stronger than they are.” The king listened to them and did it.
26 In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek(B) to battle Israel. 27 The Israelites mobilized, gathered supplies, and went to fight them. The Israelites camped in front of them like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the landscape.(C)
28 Then the man of God(D) approached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,”(E) I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”(F)
29 They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day,(G) the battle took place, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. 30 The ones who remained fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on those twenty-seven thousand remaining men.
Ben-hadad also fled and went into an inner room(H) in the city. 31 His servants said to him, “Consider this: we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let’s put sackcloth around our waists(I) and ropes around our heads, and let’s go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
32 So they dressed with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’”
So he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33 Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, so they quickly picked up on this[a] and responded, “Yes, it is your brother Ben-hadad.”
Then he said, “Go and bring him.”
So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into the chariot. 34 Then Ben-hadad said to him, “I restore to you the cities that my father took from your father,(J) and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.”(K)
Ahab responded, “On the basis of this treaty, I release you.” So he made a treaty with him and released him.
Israel’s Rejection Not Total
11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people?(A) Absolutely not!(B) For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,(C) from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.(D) Or don’t you know(E) what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life 4 But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.[b](G) 5 In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.(H) 6 Now if by grace,(I) then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.[c]
7 What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for,(J) but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,(K) 8 as it is written,
9 And David says,
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