Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
5 David oppressed with the cruelty of his enemies, and fearing greater dangers, calleth to God for succor, showing how requisite it is that God should punish the malice of his adversaries. 7 After, being assured of prosperous success, he conceiveth comfort, 12 concluding, that when God shall deliver him, others also shall be partakers of the same mercies.
To him that excelleth upon [a]Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my words, O Lord: understand my [b]meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my king and my God: for unto thee do I pray.
3 Hear my voice in the morning, O Lord: for in the morning will I direct me unto thee, and I will [c]wait.
4 For thou art not a God that loveth [d]wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 [e]The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: for thou hatest all them that work iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies: the Lord will abhor the bloody man and deceitful.
7 But I [f]will come into thine house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thine holy Temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, [g]because of mine enemies: make thy way plain before my face.
23 ¶ Then the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, Their [a]gods are gods of the mountains, and therefore they overcame us: but let us fight against them in the plain, and doubtless we shall overcome them.
24 And this do, Take the kings away, everyone out of his place, and place captains for them.
25 And number thyself an army, like the army that thou hast lost, with such horses, and such chariots, and we will fight against them in the plain, and doubtless we shall overcome them: and he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
26 And after the year was gone about, Ben-Hadad numbered the Aramites, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all [b]assembled, and went against them, and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids: but the Aramites filled the country.
28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Aramites have said, The Lord is the God of the mountains, and not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that [c]I am the Lord.
29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days, and in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Aramites an hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek into the city: and there fell a wall upon seven and twenty thousand men that were left: and Ben-Hadad fled into the city, and came into [d]a secret chamber.
31 ¶ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard say that the Kings of the house of Israel are merciful Kings: we pray thee, let us put sackcloth about our [e]loins, and ropes about our heads, and go out to the King of Israel: it may be that he will save thy life.
32 Then they girded sackcloth about their loins, and put ropes about their heads, and came to the King of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-Hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live: and he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
33 Now the men took diligent heed, [f]if they could catch anything of him, and made haste, and said, Thy brother [g]Ben-Hadad. And he said, Go, bring him. So Ben-Hadad came out unto him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
34 And Ben-Hadad said unto him, The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore, and thou shalt make streets for thee in [h]Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will let thee go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
11 1 Lest the casting off of the Jews should be limited according to the outward appearance, 4 he showeth that Elijah was in times past decieved: 16 and that, seeing they have an holy root, 23 many of them likewise shall be holy. 18, 24 He exhorteth the Gentiles to be humble, 33 and crieth out, that God’s judgments are unsearchable.
1 I Demand then, [a]Hath God cast away his people? God forbid: for [b]I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 [c]God hath not cast away his people which he [d]knew before. [e]Know ye not what the Scripture saith of Elijah, how he communeth with God against Israel, saying,
3 (A)Lord, they have killed thy Prophets, and dug down thine Altars: and I am left alone, and they seek my life?
4 But what saith the answer of God to him? (B)I have [f]reserved unto myself seven thousand men, which have not bowed the knee to [g]Baal.
5 Even so then, at this present time is there a remnant according to the [h]election of grace.
6 [i]And if it be of grace, it is [j]no more of works: or else were grace no more grace: but if it be of works, it is no more grace: or else were work no more work.
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that he sought: but the election hath obtained it, and the rest have been [k]hardened,
8 [l]According as it is written, (C)God hath given them the spirit of [m]slumber: eyes that they [n]should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.
9 And David saith, (D)[o]Let their table be made a snare, and a net, and a stumbling block, even for a recompense unto them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and bow down their back always.
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