Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God praised, and supplicated to give victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 My heart is fixed, O God;
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises, even with my glory.
2 Awake, psaltery and harp:
I myself will [a]awake right early.
3 I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the peoples;
And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4 For thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens;
And thy truth reacheth unto the skies.
5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And thy glory above all the earth.
6 That thy beloved may be delivered,
Save with thy right hand, and answer [b]us.
7 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my [c]sceptre.
9 Moab is my washpot;
[d]Upon Edom will I cast my shoe;
Over Philistia will I shout.
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who [e]hath led me unto Edom?
11 [f]Hast not thou cast us off, O God?
And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
12 Give us help against the adversary;
For vain is the [g]help of man.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly:
For he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
9 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of [a]valor. 2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a [b]young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. 3 And the asses of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. 4 And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.
5 When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the asses, and be anxious for us. 6 And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man that is held in honor; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go. 7 Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we? 8 And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way. 9 (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come, and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.) 10 Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was.
11 As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the seer here? 12 And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before thee: make haste now, for he is come to-day into the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place. 13 As soon as ye are come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goeth up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat that are bidden. Now therefore get you up; for at this time ye shall find him. 14 And they went up to the city; and as they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them, to go up to the high place.
14 And he was casting out a demon that was dumb. And it came to pass, when the demon was gone out, the dumb man spake; and the multitudes marvelled. 15 But some of them said, [a]By [b]Beelzebub the prince of the demons casteth he out demons. 16 And others, trying him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; [c]and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out demons [d]by [e]Beelzebub. 19 And if I [f]by [g]Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. 21 When the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: 22 but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. 23 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 The unclean spirit when [h]he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and finding none, he saith, I will turn back unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when [i]he is come, [j]he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth [k]he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more evil than [l]himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.
27 And it came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)