Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
(A song and a psalm by David.)
With God on Our Side
1 Our God, I am faithful to you
with all my heart,
and you can trust me.
I will sing
and play music for you
with all that I am.
2 I will start playing my harps
before the sun rises.
3 I will praise you, Lord,
for everyone to hear;
I will sing hymns to you
in every nation.
4 Your love reaches higher
than the heavens,
and your loyalty extends
beyond the clouds.
5 Our God, may you be honored
above the heavens;
may your glory be seen
everywhere on earth.
6 Answer my prayers
and use your powerful arm
to give us victory.
Then the people you love
will be safe.
7 Our God, from your holy place
you made this promise:
“I will gladly divide up
the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
piece by piece.
8 The lands of Gilead
and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is my symbol
of royal power.
9 Moab is merely my washbasin,
and Edom belongs to me.
I shout with victory
over the Philistines.”
10 Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress
or lead me to Edom?
11 Have you rejected us?
You don't lead our armies.
12 Help us defeat our enemies!
No one else can rescue us.
13 Only you give us victory
and crush our enemies.
The People of Israel Want a King
8 1-2 Samuel had two sons. The older one was Joel, and the younger one was Abijah. When Samuel was getting old, he let them be leaders at Beersheba. 3 But they were not like their father. They were dishonest and accepted bribes to give unfair decisions.
4 One day the nation's leaders came to Samuel at Ramah 5 (A) and said, “You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons, but they haven't followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations. Choose one for us!”
6 Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say they wanted a king, so he prayed about it. 7 The Lord answered:
Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king. 8 Ever since the day I rescued my people from Egypt, they have turned from me to worship idols. Now they are turning away from you. 9 Do everything they ask, but warn them and tell them how a king will treat them.
10 Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the Lord had said:
11 If you have a king, this is how he will treat you. He will force your sons to join his army. Some of them will ride in his chariots, some will serve in the cavalry, and others will run ahead of his own chariot.[a] 12 Some of them will be officers in charge of 1,000 soldiers, and others will be in charge of 50. Still others will have to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, or make weapons and parts for his chariots. 13 Your daughters will have to make perfume or do his cooking and baking.
14 The king will take your best fields, as well as your vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his own officials. 15 He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and officials.
16 The king will take your slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. 17 He will also take a tenth of your sheep and goats. You will become the king's slaves, 18 and you will finally cry out for the Lord to save you from the king you wanted. But the Lord won't answer your prayers.
19-20 The people would not listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”
21 Samuel listened to them and then told the Lord exactly what they had said. 22 “Do what they want,” the Lord answered. “Give them a king.”
Samuel told the people to go back to their homes.
Satan Is Defeated
7 At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan will be set free. 8 (A) He will fool the countries of Gog and Magog, which are at the far ends of the earth, and their people will follow him into battle. They will have as many followers as there are grains of sand along the beach, 9 and they will march all the way across the earth. They will surround the camp of God's people and the city God loves. But fire will come down from heaven and destroy the whole army. 10 Then the devil who fooled them will be thrown into the lake of fire and burning sulfur. He will be there with the beast and the false prophet, and they will be in pain day and night forever and ever.
The Judgment at the Great White Throne
11 (B) I saw a great white throne with someone sitting on it. Earth and heaven tried to run away, but there was no place for them to go. 12 (C) I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life[a] was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done.
13 The sea gave up the dead people who were in it, and death and its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then everyone was judged by what they had done. 14 Afterwards, death and its kingdom were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death.[b] 15 Anyone whose name wasn't written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
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