Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
108 O God, my heart is prepared. I will sing and give abundant praise!
2 Awake, viol and harp! I will awake early.
3 I will praise You, O LORD, among the people! And I will sing to You among the nations.
4 For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth to the clouds.
5 Exalt Yourself, O God, above the heavens, and Your Glory upon all the Earth,
6 so that Your beloved may be delivered. Help with Your right hand and hear me.
7 God has spoken in His holiness, “I will rejoice. I shall divide Shechem and measure the valley of Succoth.
8 “Gilead shall be Mine. Manasseh shall be Mine. Ephraim, also, shall be the strength of My head. Judah is My lawgiver.
9 “Moab shall be My washpot. I will cast out My shoe over Edom. I will triumph over Palestine.”
10 Who will lead me into the strong city? Who will bring me to Edom?
11 Will not You, O God, Who had forsaken us? And will You not go forth, O God, with our armies?
12 Give us help against trouble, for vain is the help of man.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly; for He shall tread down our enemies. To him who excels: A Psalm of David
9 There was now a man of Benjamin, mighty in power, named Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man of Benjamin.
2 And he had a son called Saul, a fine young man and handsome, so that among the children of Israel there was none better than he. From the shoulders upward, he was higher than any of the people.
3 Now, the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. Therefore, Kish said to Saul, his son, “Take now one of the servants with you and arise, go and seek the donkeys.
4 So, he passed through Mount Ephraim, and went through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. Then they went through the land of Shaalim; and they were not there. He also went through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.
5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come and let us return, lest my father leaves the donkeys and becomes worried about us.”
6 And he said to him, “Behold, now, in this city is a man of God. And he is an honorable man. All that he says comes to pass. Let us now go there, if so be that he can show us what way we may go.”
7 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well then, let us go! But what shall we bring to the man? For the bread in our vessels is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”
8 And the servant answered Saul again, and said, “Behold, I have found a fourth of a shekel of silver lying around. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.”
9 (In the old time in Israel, when a man went to seek an answer from God, he said, “Come and let us go to the Seer.” For he who is now called a Prophet was in the old time called a Seer.)
10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said! Come, let us go.” So they went into the city where the man of God was.
11 And as they were going up the highway to the city, they found maids who came out to draw water, and said to them, “Is there a Seer here?”
12 And they answered them, and said, “Yea, lo, he is before you. Hurry now, for he came this day to the city. For there is an Offering of the people this day in the high place.
13 “When you shall come into the city, you shall find him immediately, before he comes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he will bless the Sacrifice. And then those who are invited to the feast may eat. Now, therefore, go up. For you shall find him now.”
14 Then they went up into the city. And when they had come into the midst of the city, Samuel came out opposite them, to go up to the high place.
14 Then He cast out a demon who was dumb. And when the demon had gone out, the dumb spoke, and the people wondered.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons through Beelzebub, the chief of the demons.
16 And others tempted Him, seeking a sign from Heaven from Him.
17 But He knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be desolate. And a house divided against a house, falls.
18 So, if Satan is also divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons through Beelzebub?
19 If I cast out demons through Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.
20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, doubtless the Kingdom of God has come to you.
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, the things that he possesses are in peace.
22 But when someone stronger comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes away all the armor in which he had trusted and divides his spoils.
23 “Whoever is not with Me, is against Me. And whoever does not gather with Me, scatters.
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest. And when he finds none, he says, ‘I will return to the house from where I came out.’
25 “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself. And they enter in, and dwell there. So, the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
27 And it happened that as He said these things, a certain woman in the crowd lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which You have sucked.”
28 But He said, “On the contrary. Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”
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