Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

With God We Shall Do Valiantly

A Song. A Psalm of David.

Israel Demands a King

8 When Samuel became old, ^(A)he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways ^(B)but turned aside after gain. ^(C)They took bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(D)Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^(E)Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^(F)for they have not rejected you, ^(G)but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them ^(H)and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel's Warning Against Kings

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. ¹¹ He said, ^(I)“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^(J)he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^(K)to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ^14 (L)He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men^[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^(M)but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel's Request

¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, ^20 (N)that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. ²² And the Lord said to Samuel, ^(O)“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

The Defeat of Satan

⁷ And when the thousand years are ended, ^(A)Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will come out ^(B)to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, ^(C)Gog and Magog, ^(D)to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And ^(E)they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded ^(F)the camp of the saints and ^(G)the beloved city, but ^(H)fire came down from heaven^[a] and consumed them, ¹⁰ and the devil ^(I)who had deceived them was ^(J)thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where ^(K)the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence ^(L)earth and sky fled away, and ^(M)no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and ^(N)books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is ^(O)the book of life. And ^(P)the dead were judged by what was written in the books, ^(Q)according to what they had done. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, ^(R)Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, ^(S)according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then ^(T)Death and Hades ^(U)were thrown into the lake of fire. This is ^(V)the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, ^(W)he was thrown into the lake of fire.