Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry for Help
A prayer of David.
86 Lord, listen to me and answer me.
I am poor and helpless.
2 Protect me, because I worship you.
My God, save me, your servant who trusts in you.
3 Lord, have mercy on me,
because I have called to you all day.
4 Give happiness to me, your servant,
because I give my life to you, Lord.
5 Lord, you are kind and forgiving
and have great love for those who call to you.
6 Lord, hear my prayer,
and listen when I ask for mercy.
7 I call to you in times of trouble,
because you will answer me.
8 Lord, there is no god like you
and no works like yours.
9 Lord, all the nations you have made
will come and worship you.
They will honor you.
10 You are great and you do miracles.
Only you are God.
11 Lord, teach me what you want me to do,
and I will live by your truth.
Teach me to respect you completely.
12 Lord, my God, I will praise you with all my heart,
and I will honor your name forever.
13 You have great love for me.
You have saved me from death.
14 God, proud people are attacking me;
a gang of cruel people is trying to kill me.
They do not respect you.
15 But, Lord, you are a God who shows mercy and is kind.
You don’t become angry quickly.
You have great love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy.
Give me, your servant, strength.
Save me, the son of your female servant.
17 Show me a sign of your goodness.
When my enemies look, they will be ashamed.
You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
27 As Saul, his servant, and Samuel were getting near the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay, because I have a message from God for you.”
Samuel Appoints Saul
10 Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has appointed you to lead his people. 2 After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for have been found. But now your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys and is worrying about you. He is asking, “What will I do about my son?”’
3 “Then you will go on until you reach the big tree at Tabor. Three men on their way to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One man will be carrying three goats. Another will be carrying three loaves of bread. And the third will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you must accept. 5 Then you will go to Gibeah of God, where a Philistine camp is. When you approach this town, a group of prophets will come down from the place of worship. They will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you with power. You will prophesy with these prophets, and you will be changed into a different man. 7 After these signs happen, do whatever you find to do, because God will help you.
8 “Go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come down to you to offer whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and tell you what to do.”
Warning About Non-Christians
14 You are not the same as those who do not believe. So do not join yourselves to them. Good and bad do not belong together. Light and darkness cannot share together. 15 How can Christ and Belial, the devil, have any agreement? What can a believer have together with a nonbeliever? 16 The temple of God cannot have any agreement with idols, and we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live with them and walk with them. And I will be their God, and they will be my people.”[a]
17 “Leave those people,
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch nothing that is unclean,
and I will accept you.” Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34, 41
18 “I will be your father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Samuel 7:14
7 Dear friends, we have these promises from God, so we should make ourselves pure—free from anything that makes body or soul unclean. We should try to become holy in the way we live, because we respect God.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.