Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 (A)My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my [a]soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your (B)lovingkindness is great (C)above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
5 (D)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
6 (E)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
7 God has spoken in His [b]holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out Shechem
And measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 “Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the [c]helmet of My head;
(F)Judah is My [d]scepter.
9 “Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Over Philistia I will shout aloud.”
10 (G)Who will bring me into the besieged city?
Who [e]will lead me to Edom?
11 Have not You Yourself, O God, (H)rejected us?
And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?
12 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (I)deliverance [f]by man is in vain.
13 [g]Through God we will do valiantly,
And (J)it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.
Israel Demands a King
8 And it came about when Samuel was old that (A)he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in (B)Beersheba. 3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and (C)took bribes and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at (D)Ramah; 5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now (E)appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing was [a](F)displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And (G)Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for (H)they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. 8 Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now then, listen to their voice; (I)however, you shall solemnly [b]warn them and tell them of (J)the [c]procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
Warning concerning a King
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to (K)the people who had asked of him a king. 11 He said, “(L)This will be the [d]procedure of the king who will reign over you: (M)he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and (N)they will run before his chariots. 12 (O)He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to [e]do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 (P)He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and [f]use them for his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 Then (Q)you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but (R)the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 Nevertheless, the people (S)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 (T)that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, (U)he repeated them in the Lord’s hearing. 22 The Lord said to Samuel, “(V)Listen to their voice and [g]appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
Satan Freed, Doomed
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be (A)released from his prison, 8 and will come out to (B)deceive the nations which are in the (C)four corners of the earth, (D)Gog and Magog, to (E)gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the (F)sand of the [a]seashore. 9 And they (G)came up on the [b]broad plain of the earth and surrounded the (H)camp of the [c]saints and the (I)beloved city, and (J)fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And (K)the devil who (L)deceived them was thrown into the (M)lake of fire and [d]brimstone, where the (N)beast and the (O)false prophet are also; and they will be (P)tormented day and night forever and ever.
Judgment at the Throne of God
11 Then I saw a great white (Q)throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose [e]presence (R)earth and heaven fled away, and (S)no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the (T)great and the small, standing before the throne, and [f](U)books were opened; and another [g]book was opened, which is (V)the book of life; and the dead (W)were judged from the things which were written in the [h]books, (X)according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and (Y)death and Hades (Z)gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them (AA)according to their deeds. 14 Then (AB)death and Hades were thrown into (AC)the lake of fire. This is the (AD)second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if [i]anyone’s name was not found written in (AE)the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
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