Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 5[a]
Morning Prayer for Divine Help
1 For the director.[b] With flutes. A psalm of David.
2 Listen to my words, O Lord;
pay heed to my sighs.
3 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God;
for to you I pray.
4 O Lord, at daybreak[c] you hear my voice;
at daybreak I bring my petition before you
and await your reply.
5 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot remain in your presence.
6 The arrogant shrink before your gaze;
you hate all who do evil.
7 You destroy all who tell lies;
the Lord detests the violent and the deceitful.
8 But I will enter your house
because of your great kindness,[d]
and I will bow down in your holy temple,
filled with awe of you.
Chapter 20
Ahab’s Victory over the Arameans.[a] 1 Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, gathered together his entire army. He had thirty-two kings with him along with their horses and chariots. They went up and besieged Samaria, fighting against it.
2 He sent messengers into the city, to Ahab, the king of Israel, saying, “Thus says Ben-hadad: 3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, as are the best of your wives and your children.’ ” 4 The king of Israel answered, “O king, my lord, I and all that I own are yours.”
5 The messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ‘I have sent to you demanding that you send me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. 6 Around this time tomorrow, I will send my servants to you. They will search through your palace and the houses of your servants. They will take hold of whatever they like and carry it away.’ ”
7 The king of Israel summoned all of the elders of the land and said, “See how this man is looking for trouble. He sent a message to me seeking my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not deny it to him.” 8 The elders and all of the people said to him, “Do not listen to him, do not agree!”
9 So he replied to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord, the king: ‘Your servant will do everything that you demanded the first time, but I cannot do this thing.’ ” The messengers went away and brought him the answer.
10 Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, “May the gods do this to me and more if there is enough dust remaining from Samaria to give a handful to each of those who follow me.”[b]
11 The king of Israel answered, “Say: ‘He who is putting on his armor should not boast like someone who is taking it off.’ ” 12 He heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in the tents and he said to his servants, “Get ready!” So they prepared to attack the city.
13 In the meantime, a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do you see this enormous mob? Behold, I will deliver them into your hands today so that you might know that I am the Lord.’ ” 14 Ahab said, “Who will do it?” He answered, “Thus says the Lord: ‘The young officers from the provinces.’ ” He asked, “Who should start the battle?” He answered, “You!”[c]
15 So he summoned the young officers from the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two of them. Then he counted all of the Israelites there, and there were seven thousand.
16 They set out at noon when Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings who were helping him were getting drunk in their tents. 17 The young officers from the provinces went out first. Ben-hadad sent out men who told him, “The men from Samaria are advancing.” 18 He said, “If they are coming out to make peace, take them alive, and even if they have come out to fight, take them alive.”
19 And so the young officers from the provinces came out from the city, and the army followed after them. 20 Each of them killed his opponent, and the Arameans fled away with Israel pursuing them. Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse with some of his horsemen.
21 The king of Israel went out and defeated the horsemen and the chariots, and he killed a large number of the Arameans. 22 Afterwards, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen yourself, and see what must be done, for next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”
Chapter 4
The Need To Control Passions.[a] 1 What is the source of these conflicts and quarrels among you? Are they not the result of your passions[b] that are at war within you? 2 You want something that you cannot have, so you commit murder. And you covet something but cannot obtain it, so you engage in quarrels and fights. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 When you ask, you do not get what you want because you do not ask for it with the proper motives, seeking rather to indulge your passions.
4 Adulterers! Do you not know that love of the world results in enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose that it is without reason that Scripture says, “He yearns jealously for the Spirit that he sent to live in us”?[c] 6 But he has bestowed an even stronger grace. Therefore, it says,
“God resists the proud,
but he gives grace to the humble.”
7 Hence, be subject to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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