Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; according to mahalath,[a] a maskil by David.
53 Godless fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt.
They do disgusting things.
There is no one who does good things.
2 God looks down from heaven on Adam’s descendants
to see if there is anyone who acts wisely,
if there is anyone who seeks help from God.
3 Everyone has fallen away.
Together they have become rotten to the core.
No one, not even one person, does good things.
4 Are all those troublemakers,
those who devour my people as if they were devouring food,
so ignorant that they do not call on God?
5 There they are—panic-stricken—
⌞but⌟ there was no reason to panic,
because God has scattered the bones
of those who set up camp against you.
You put them to shame.
After all, God has rejected them.
6 If only salvation for Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice.
Israel will be glad.
23 Now, Philistine troops had gone out to the pass at Michmash.
Jonathan Defeats the Philistines
14 One day Saul’s son Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Let’s go to the Philistine military post on the other side.” But Jonathan didn’t tell his father ⌞he was going⌟.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree at Migron. He had with him about 600 men 3 in addition to Ahijah, the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, who was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli, the Lord’s priest at Shiloh. Ahijah was wearing the priestly ephod.[a]
The troops didn’t know Jonathan had left. 4 There was a cliff on each side of the mountain pass where Jonathan searched for a way to cross over to attack the Philistine military post. The name of one ⌞cliff⌟ was Bozez, and the name of the other was Seneh. 5 One cliff stood like a pillar on the north facing Michmash, the other stood south facing Geba.
6 Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Let’s go to the military post of these uncircumcised people. Maybe the Lord will act on our behalf. The Lord can win a victory with a few men as well as with many.”
7 His armorbearer answered him, “Do whatever you have in mind. Go ahead! I agree with you.”
8 Jonathan continued, “Listen, we’ll cross over to the Philistines and show ourselves to them. 9 If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are until we come to you,’ then we’ll stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say to us, ‘Come up here,’ then we’ll go up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has handed them over to us.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine troops. The Philistines said, “Look, some Hebrews are coming out of the holes they were hiding in.”
12 “Come up here,” the men of the military post said to Jonathan and his armorbearer. “We have something to show you.”
Jonathan told his armorbearer, “Follow me up ⌞to the military post⌟ because the Lord has handed the troops over to Israel.”
13 Jonathan climbed up ⌞the cliff⌟, and his armorbearer followed him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines. His armorbearer, who was behind him, finished killing them. 14 In their first slaughter Jonathan and his armorbearer killed about twenty men within about a hundred yards. 15 There was panic among the army in the field and all the troops in the military post. The raiding party also trembled ⌞in fear⌟. The earth shook, and there was a panic sent from God.
16 Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin could see the crowd ⌞in the Philistine camp⌟ dispersing in all directions.
17 “Look around,” Saul told the troops who were with him, “and see who has left ⌞our camp⌟.” They looked and found that Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there.
18 Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the priestly ephod,” because Ahijah carried the ephod in front of Israel that day.[b] 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew worse and worse. Then Saul said to the priest, “Remove your hand ⌞from the ephod⌟.” 20 Saul and all the troops with him assembled and went into battle. They found Philistine soldiers killing their fellow soldiers in wild confusion. 21 The Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before this and had been stationed in the camp now joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the men of Israel who had been hiding in the mountains of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also pursued the Philistines in battle. 23 So the Lord saved Israel that day.
Saul’s Curse
Now, the battle moved beyond Beth Aven.
Paul Summarizes His Teachings about Circumcision
11 Look at how large the letters ⌞in these words⌟ are because I’m writing this myself.
12 These people who want to make a big deal out of a physical thing are trying to force you to be circumcised. Their only aim is to avoid persecution because of the cross of Christ. 13 It’s clear that not even those who had themselves circumcised did this to follow Moses’ laws. Yet, they want you to be circumcised so that they can brag about what was done to your body. 14 But it’s unthinkable that I could ever brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his cross my relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified. 15 Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God.[a]
17 From now on, don’t make any trouble for me! After all, I carry the scars of Jesus on my body.
18 May the good will [b] of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters! Amen.
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