Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
138 1 David with great courage praiseth the goodness of God toward him, the which is so great, 4 That it is known to foreign princes, who shall praise the Lord together with him. 6 And he is assured to have the like comfort of God in the time following, as he had heretofore.
A Psalm of David.
1 I will praise thee with my whole heart: even before the [a]gods will I praise thee.
2 I will worship toward thine holy [b]Temple and praise thy Name, because of thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy Name above all things by thy word.
3 When I called, then thou heardest me, and hast [c]increased strength in my soul.
4 All the [d]kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord: for they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5 And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord is great.
6 For the Lord is high, yet he beholdeth the lowly, but the proud he knoweth [e]afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet wilt thou revive me: thou wilt stretch forth thine hand upon the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8 The Lord will [f]perform his work toward me: O Lord, thy mercy endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine hands.
5 2 The Philistines bring the Ark into the house of Dagon, which idol fell down before it. 6 The men of Ashdod are plagued. 8 The Ark is carried into Gath, and after to Ekron.
1 Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and carried it from Ebenezer unto [a]Ashdod,
2 Even the Philistines took the Ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by [b]Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod rose the next day in the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and they took up Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 Also they rose up early in the morning the next day, and behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and the two palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold: only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore the Priests of Dagon, and all that come into Dagon’s house, [c]tread not on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day.
6 But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and destroyed them, and smote them with the (A)emerods, both Ashdod, and the coasts thereof.
7 And when the men of Ashdod saw this, they said, Let not the Ark of the God of Israel abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god.
8 They sent therefore, and gathered all the princes of the Philistines unto them, and said, [d]What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath: and they carried the Ark of the God of Israel about.
9 And when they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction, and he smote the men of the city both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
10 ¶ Therefore they sent the Ark of God to Ekron: and as soon as the Ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought the Ark of the God of Israel to us to slay us and our people.
11 Therefore they sent, and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines, and said, Send [e]away the Ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to his own place, that it slay us not and our people: for there was a destruction and death throughout all the city, and the hand of God was very sore there.
12 And the men that died not, were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
5 1 He continueth in the same argument, 5 touching the certain hope of salvation 7 through faith, 12 not to praise himself, 14 seeing he hath God and his Church before his eyes, 17 and esteemeth nothing, but newness of life in Christ.
1 For [a]we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed, we have a building given of God, that is, an house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens.
2 For therefore we sigh, desiring to be [b]clothed with our house, which is from [c]heaven.
3 [d]Because that if we be clothed, we shall not be found (A)naked.
4 For indeed we that are in this tabernacle, sigh and are burdened because we would not be unclothed, but would be clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 And he that hath [e]created us for this thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
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