Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

108 O God, my heart is prepared. I will sing and give abundant praise!

² Awake, viol and harp! I will awake early.

³ I will praise You, O LORD, among the people! And I will sing to You among the nations.

⁴ For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth to the clouds.

⁵ Exalt Yourself, O God, above the heavens, and Your Glory upon all the Earth,

⁶ so that Your beloved may be delivered. Help with Your right hand and hear me.

⁷ God has spoken in His holiness, “I will rejoice. I shall divide Shechem and measure the valley of Succoth.

⁸ “Gilead shall be Mine. Manasseh shall be Mine. Ephraim, also, shall be the strength of My head. Judah is My lawgiver.

⁹ “Moab shall be My washpot. I will cast out My shoe over Edom. I will triumph over Palestine.”

¹⁰ Who will lead me into the strong city? Who will bring me to Edom?

¹¹ Will not You, O God, Who had forsaken us? And will You not go forth, O God, with our armies?

¹² Give us help against trouble, for vain is the help of man.

¹³ Through God we shall do valiantly; for He shall tread down our enemies. To him who excels: A Psalm of David

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the House of Israel, saying, “If you have come back to the LORD with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, and Ashtoreth, and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him only; and He shall deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

⁴ Then, the children of Israel did put away Baal and Ashtoreth and served the LORD only.

⁵ And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you to the LORD.”

⁶ And they gathered together to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted the same day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD!” And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.

⁷ When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together in Mizpah, the princes of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard that, they were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸ And the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease crying to the LORD our God for us, so that He may save us out of the hand of the Philistines!”

⁹ Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it all together for a Burnt Offering to the LORD. And Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.

¹⁰ And as Samuel offered the Burnt Offering, the Philistines came to fight against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder upon the Philistines that day and scattered them. So they were killed before Israel.

¹¹ And the men of Israel went from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them until they came under Beth Car.

¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name, Ebenezer. And he said, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

¹³ So the Philistines were subdued. And they no longer came back into the territory of Israel. And the Hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life.

¹⁴ Also, the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron all the way to Gath. And Israel delivered the territories of the same out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life,

20 And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

² And he took the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. And he bound him for a thousand years;

³ and cast him into the bottomless pit. And he shut him up and sealed the door upon him - so that he would deceive the people no more - till the thousand years were completed. For after that, he must be let loose for a little season.

⁴ And I saw thrones. And they sat upon them. And judgment was given them. And I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and who did not worship the beast or his image. Nor had they taken his mark upon their foreheads, nor on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

⁵ But the rest of the dead shall not live again until the thousand years are finished. This is the first resurrection.

⁶ Blessed and holy is he who takes part in the first resurrection. For over such, the second death has no power. But they shall be the priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.