Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on flutes.
5 Lord, listen to my words.
Pay attention when I mourn.
2 My King and my God,
hear me when I cry for help.
I pray to you.
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I pray to you.
I wait for you in hope.
4 For you, God, aren’t happy with anything that is evil.
Those who do what is wrong can’t live where you are.
5 Those who are proud can’t stand in front of you.
You hate everyone who does what is evil.
6 You destroy those who tell lies.
Lord, you hate murderers and those who cheat others.
7 Because of your great love
I can come into your house.
With deep respect I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lord, I have many enemies.
Lead me in your right path.
Make your way smooth and straight for me.
Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria
20 Ben-Hadad brought his whole army together. He was king of Aram. He went up to Samaria. He took 32 kings and their horses and chariots with him. All of them surrounded Samaria and attacked it. 2 Ben-Hadad sent messengers into the city. They spoke to Ahab, the king of Israel. They told him, “Ben-Hadad says, 3 ‘Your silver and gold belong to me. The best of your wives and children also belong to me.’ ”
4 The king of Israel replied, “What you say is true. You are my king and master. I belong to you. And everything I have belongs to you.”
5 The messengers came again. They told Ahab, “Ben-Hadad says, ‘I commanded you to give me your silver and gold. I also commanded you to give me your wives and children. 6 But now I’m going to send my officials to you. They will come about this time tomorrow. They’ll search your palace. They’ll search the houses of your officials. They’ll take everything you value. And they’ll carry it all away.’ ”
7 The king of Israel sent for all the elders of the land. He said to them, “This man is really looking for trouble! He sent for my wives and children. He sent for my silver and gold. And I agreed to give them to him.”
8 All the elders and people answered, “Don’t listen to him. Don’t agree to give him what he wants.”
9 So Ahab replied to Ben-Hadad’s messengers. He said, “Tell my king and master, ‘I will do everything you commanded me to do the first time. But this time, I can’t do what you want me to do.’ ” They took Ahab’s answer back to Ben-Hadad.
10 Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab. Ben-Hadad said, “There won’t be enough dust left in Samaria to give each of my followers even a handful. If there is, may the gods punish me greatly.”
11 The king of Israel replied. He said, “Tell him, ‘Someone who puts his armor on shouldn’t brag like someone who takes it off.’ ”
12 Ben-Hadad and the kings were in their tents drinking. That’s when he heard the message. He ordered his men, “Get ready to attack.” So they prepared to attack the city.
Ahab Wins the Battle Over Ben-Hadad
13 During that time a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘Do you see this huge army? I will hand it over to you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
14 “But who will do it?” Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, “The Lord says, ‘The junior officers who are under the area commanders will do it.’ ”
“And who will start the battle?” Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, “You will.”
15 So Ahab sent for the junior officers who were under the area commanders. The total number of officers was 232. Ahab gathered together the rest of the Israelites. The total number of them was 7,000. 16 They started out at noon. At that time Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings helping him were in their tents. They were getting drunk. 17 The junior officers who were under Ahab’s area commanders marched out first.
Ben-Hadad had sent out scouts. They came back and reported, “Men are marching against us from Samaria.”
18 Ben-Hadad said, “They might be coming to make peace. If they are, take them alive. Or they might be coming to make war. If they are, take them alive.”
19 The junior officers marched out of the city. The army was right behind them. 20 Each man struck down the one fighting against him. When that happened, the army of Aram ran away. The Israelites chased them. But Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse. Some of his horsemen escaped with him. 21 The king of Israel attacked them. He overpowered the horses and chariots. Large numbers of the men of Aram were wounded or killed.
22 After that, the prophet came to the king of Israel again. The prophet said, “Make your position stronger. Do what needs to be done. Next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”
Obey God
4 Why do you fight and argue among yourselves? Isn’t it because of your sinful desires? They fight within you. 2 You want something, but you don’t have it. So you kill. You want what others have, but you can’t get what you want. So you argue and fight. You don’t have what you want, because you don’t ask God. 3 When you do ask for something, you don’t receive it. That’s because you ask for the wrong reason. You want to spend your money on your sinful pleasures.
4 You are not faithful to God. Don’t you know that to be a friend of the world is to hate God? So anyone who chooses to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. 5 Don’t you know what Scripture says? God wants the spirit in us to belong only to him. God caused this spirit to live in us. Don’t you think Scripture has a reason for saying this? 6 But God continues to give us more grace. That’s why Scripture says,
“God opposes those who are proud.
But he gives grace to those who are humble.” (Proverbs 3:34)
7 So obey God. Stand up to the devil. He will run away from you.
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