Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
(A psalm by David when he was in the desert of Judah.)
God's Love Means More than Life
1 (A) You are my God. I worship you.
In my heart, I long for you,
as I would long for a stream
in a scorching desert.
2 I have seen your power
and your glory
in the place of worship.
3 Your love means more
than life to me,
and I praise you.
4 As long as I live,
I will pray to you.
5 I will sing joyful praises
and be filled with excitement
like a guest at a banquet.
6 I think about you, God,
before I go to sleep,
and my thoughts turn to you
during the night.
7 You have helped me,
and I sing happy songs
in the shadow of your wings.
8 I stay close to you,
and your powerful arm
supports me.
9 All who want to kill me
will end up in the ground.
10 Swords will run them through,
and wild dogs will eat them.
11 Because of you, our God,
the king will celebrate
with your faithful followers,
but liars will be silent.
David Becomes One of Saul's Officers
55 After King Saul had watched David go out to fight Goliath, Saul turned to the commander of his army and said, “Abner, who is that young man?”
“Your Majesty,” Abner answered, “I swear by your life that I don't know.”
56 “Then find out!” Saul told him.
57 When David came back from fighting Goliath, he was still carrying Goliath's head.
Abner took David to Saul, 58 and Saul asked, “Who are you?”
“I am David the son of Jesse, a loyal Israelite from Bethlehem.”
18 David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathan[a] became best friends. Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself. 2 From that time on, Saul kept David in his service and would not let David go back to his own family.
3 Jonathan liked David so much that they promised to always be loyal friends. 4 Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes,[b] his sword, his bow and arrows, and his belt.
5 David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 (A) At the sound of the seventh trumpet, loud voices were heard in heaven. They said,
“Now the kingdom
of this world
belongs to our Lord
and to his Chosen One!
And he will rule
forever and ever!”
16 Then the 24 elders, who were seated on thrones in God's presence, knelt down and worshiped him. 17 They said,
“Lord God All-Powerful,
you are and you were,
and we thank you.
You used your great power
and started ruling.
18 (B) When the nations got angry,
you became angry too!
Now the time has come
for the dead
to be judged.
It is time for you to reward
your servants the prophets
and all your people
who honor your name,
no matter who they are.
It is time to destroy everyone
who has destroyed
the earth.”
19 (C) The door to God's temple in heaven was then opened, and the sacred chest[a] could be seen inside the temple. I saw lightning and heard roars of thunder. The earth trembled and huge hailstones fell to the ground.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.