Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 108^[a]

Prayer for Divine Assistance against Enemies

¹ A song. A psalm of David.

³ Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you intend to return to the Lord with your whole heart, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods you have among you, the Astartes, and commit your hearts to serve the Lord alone, then he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites threw away their Baals and Astartes,^[a] and served the Lord alone.

⁵ Samuel then said, “Assemble all of the Israelites at Mizpah,^[b] and I will intercede to the Lord for you.” ⁶ When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it^[c] before the Lord. They fasted that day and confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now, Samuel was the judge of the Israelites at Mizpah.

Defeat of the Philistines. ⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up to attack them. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ The Israelites said to Samuel, “Intercede for us unceasingly with the Lord, our God, that he might deliver us from the power of the Philistines.”

⁹ So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord for the sake of Israel, and the Lord heard him.

¹⁰ While Samuel was performing the sacrifice, the Philistines drew near to engage the Israelites in combat. The Lord boomed with a loud thunder that day, and the Philistines panicked and they were defeated by the Israelites. ¹¹ The men of Israel rushed out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines. They slaughtered them all the way to Beth-car. ¹² Samuel then took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He called it “Ebenezer,” saying “the Lord helped us here.”^[d]

¹³ Thus the Philistines were defeated and they no longer raided the territory of Israel. The hand of the Lord was raised against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. ¹⁴ The towns that lay between Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to the Israelites, and Israel was able to deliver its borderlands from the hands of the Philistines. There was even peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Samuel continued to serve as the judge of Israel throughout his entire lifetime.

Chapter 20

The Dragon.^{[a] 1} Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. ³ He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would not again deceive the nations until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released, but only for a short time.

The Reign of the Martyrs: Return and Destruction of Satan.^{[b] 4} Next, I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given the authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for bearing witness to Jesus and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.^[c]

⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed^[d] and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.