Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
David wrote this song.
Thank God for who he is
138 I will thank you, Lord, with my whole being.
I will sing and praise you in front of the gods.[a]
2 I look towards your holy temple,
and I bend down to worship you.
I thank you for who you are.
You love your people and they can always trust you.
You are more famous than anyone,
because you always do what you promise.
3 When I prayed to you, you answered me.
You made me brave and strong.
4 All the kings in the world will thank you, Lord,
when they hear the promises that you have made.
5 They will sing about the things that you have done,
because they see that you are great, Lord.
6 Yes, the Lord is high above the earth.
But he takes care of humble people.
He also knows what proud people are doing,
even if they try to hide.[b]
7 When there is danger all round me,
you help me to be strong.
When my enemy is angry, you fight against him.
You save me with your strong right hand.[c]
8 The Lord stands with me to do what he has promised.
Yes, Lord, your faithful love will always continue.
You have made us who we are,
so do not leave us now!
4 Samuel spoke the Lord's messages to all the Israelites.
The Philistines take God's Covenant Box
The Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelite army put up their tents near the place called Ebenezer. The Philistine army put up their tents at Aphek. 2 The Philistines went to attack the Israelites. As the battle continued, the Philistines won the fight and they killed about 4,000 Israelites.
3 The Israelite soldiers returned to their tents. The leaders of Israel said to each other, ‘Why did the Lord let the Philistines win against us today? We should bring the Lord's Covenant Box here from Shiloh. We will take it with us into the battle. Then it will save us from our enemies.’[a]
4 So the people sent men to Shiloh and they brought back the Lord's Covenant Box. That is where the Lord Almighty sits between the cherubs. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also came with God's Covenant Box. 5 The men brought the Lord's Covenant Box into the place where the soldiers' tents were. When the Israelites saw it, they shouted so loudly that the ground shook.
6 The Philistines heard the loud noise. They asked each other, ‘What is happening there among the Hebrew people's army?’[b] Then they realized that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived there. 7 They were afraid and they said, ‘Their gods have come to help them fight! We are in bad trouble. Nothing like this has happened to us before. 8 This is terrible! Nobody can save us from those powerful gods. Those gods punished the Egyptians with many bad diseases in the desert. 9 Philistine soldiers, you must be brave! You must fight as strong men! If not, we will become slaves of these Hebrew people, as they were once our slaves. So be ready to fight bravely!’
10 So the Philistines did fight strongly and they won again. They killed 30,000 Israelite soldiers in the battle. The other Israelite soldiers all ran home. 11 The Philistines took God's Covenant Box for themselves. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also died.
Eli dies
12 That same day, a soldier from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle. He ran to Shiloh. He had torn his clothes and he had put dirt on his head.[c]
13 Eli was sitting on his chair by the side of the road in Shiloh. He was waiting for news of the battle. He wanted to know if God's Covenant Box was safe. When the soldier arrived in the city, he told the people what had happened in the battle. All the people started to cry loudly.
14 Eli heard the people's loud voices. He asked, ‘What is causing all the noise?’ The soldier quickly went to tell Eli the news. 15 Eli was now 98 years old and he could not see at all. 16 The soldier said to Eli, ‘I am the man who ran here today from the battle.’ Eli asked him, ‘What happened, my son?’
17 The soldier replied, ‘The Israelites ran away while the Philistines chased them. The Philistines killed many of our soldiers. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead. And the Philistines have taken away God's Covenant Box.’
18 Eli was sitting near the city's gate. He was old and fat. When the soldier spoke about God's Covenant Box, Eli fell back off his chair. His neck broke and he died. He had been a leader of Israel's people for 40 years.
19 At that time, Phinehas' wife was pregnant. She was ready to give birth. She heard the news that the Philistines had taken away God's Covenant Box. She heard that her husband Phinehas and his father Eli were dead. When she heard this news, she started to give birth to her baby. But she had a lot of pain. 20 She was dying. The women who were helping her said, ‘Do not be afraid. You have given birth to a son!’ But this did not make her happy. She did not answer them.
21 She called the boy's name Ichabod, because she said, ‘God's glory has gone away from Israel.’ She said this because the Philistines had taken away God's Covenant Box, and because her husband and his father had died. 22 She said, ‘God's glory has gone away from Israel because the Covenant Box has gone.’
We must use God's gifts properly
7 All things in this world will soon come to an end. So you must think clearly. Then you will be able to pray in a serious way. 8 Continue to love each other very much. That is more important than anything else. If you love people, you will forgive them for any wrong things that they have done. 9 Always be happy to have other believers as visitors in your homes.
10 God has helped each of you in a certain way. Think carefully about how to use that gift from God well. Remember that God has given many different gifts to his people so that they can help each other. 11 Has God helped you to speak well? Then speak God's messages to people. Or has God helped you to serve other people? Then let God make you strong to do that. Do everything so that people will praise God. They will say that God is great, because of Jesus Christ. He is the one who has all authority and power for ever. Everyone should praise him! Amen! This is true!
Christians must be ready to have trouble and pain
12 My friends, I know that people are causing you to have bad trouble. It is like a fire that is burning you. Do not be surprised about that. These things are happening to you, to show whether you really trust God. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. 13 Instead, be happy when you have trouble. Remember that Christ also received much trouble and pain. If you have trouble like he did, then you will be happy when he returns. At that time, everyone will see how great Christ really is. Then you will be very happy with a great joy. 14 People may insult you because you belong to Christ. But God will bless you when that happens. It shows that the Holy Spirit is with you. He is God's great Spirit.
15 Do not murder anyone. Do not rob anyone. Do not do evil things. Do not try to cause trouble for other people. If you do those things, you deserve to have trouble. 16 But if you receive trouble because you are a Christian, do not be ashamed about that. Instead, you should praise God that you belong to Christ.
17 The time has come when God will start to judge people. He will first judge the people who belong to him. If he will start with his own people, what will happen to other people? They have refused to obey God's good news, so it will surely be very bad for them. 18 The Bible says:
‘When God saves righteous people, that is a difficult thing.
It will surely be much worse for people who turn away from God and who do bad things.’[a]
19 So remember this. If you receive trouble because that is what God wants, you should continue to trust him. God made you and he always does what he has promised. So you should continue to do what is good.
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