Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

20 The LORD hear you on the day of trouble. The Name of the God of Jacob defend you;

² send you help from the Sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion.

³ Let Him remember all your offerings and turn your burnt offerings into ashes. Selah.

⁴ Grant you according to your heart and fulfill all your purpose,

⁵ so that we may rejoice in your salvation—and set up the banner in the Name of our God—when the LORD shall perform all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the LORD will help His anointed; and will hear him from His Sanctuary, by the mighty help of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses. But we will remember the Name of the LORD our God.

⁸ They are brought down and fallen. But we are risen and stand upright.

⁹ Save, LORD! Let the king hear us on the day that we call! To him who excels: A Psalm of David.

10 Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be Governor over His inheritance?

² “After you have departed from me this day, you shall find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher, on the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah; and they will say to you, “The donkeys which you went to seek have been found. And lo, your father has left the care of the donkeys and worries about you, saying, ‘What shall I do for my son?’

³ “Then you shall go forth from there and shall come to the plain of Tabor. And you shall meet three men there going up to God, to Bethel, one carrying three goats and another carrying three loaves of bread and another carrying a bottle of wine.

⁴ “And they will ask you if all is well and will give you the two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands.

⁵ “After that, you shall come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. And when you have come there to the city, you shall meet a company of Prophets coming down from the high place with a lute and a tambourine and a flute and a harp before them; and they shall prophesy.

⁶ “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you. And you shall prophesy with them and shall be turned into another man.

⁷ “Therefore, when these signs shall come to you, do as the occasion shall require. For God is with you.

⁸ “And you shall go down before me to Gilgal. And I, also, will come down to you, to offer Burnt Offerings, and to sacrifice Sacrifices of peace. Wait for me for seven days, until I come to you and tell you what you shall do.”

⁴ By faith, Abel offered a greater sacrifice to God than Cain - by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts - also by which he, being dead, still speaks.

⁵ By faith, Enoch was translated, so that he would not see death. Nor was he found. For God had taken him away. For before he was transformed, it was reported of him that he had pleased God.

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him. He who comes to God must believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

⁷ By faith, Noah being warned by God of the things which were as yet not seen, moved with reverence, prepared the Ark to the saving of his household (through which He condemned the world), and was made heir of the righteousness which is by faith.