Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David, the slave of the LORD, who spoke unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,

¹ ¶ I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

² The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³ I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies.

⁴ The pain of death compassed me, and the rivers of Belial made me afraid.

⁵ The pain of Sheol compassed me about: the snares of death came before me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the LORD and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

⁴³ Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the Gentiles: a people whom I did not know served me.

⁴⁴ As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me: the sons of strangers submitted themselves unto me even against their will.

⁴⁵ The strangers fell away and were afraid in their close places.

⁴⁶ The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

⁴⁷ It is God that avenges me and subdues the peoples under me.

⁴⁸ He delivers me from my enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the one who would betray me.

⁴⁹ Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the Gentiles and sing praises unto thy name.

⁵⁰ He gives great deliverance to his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

31 ¶ Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa.

² And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons, and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.

³ And the battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was sore afraid of the archers.

⁴ Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword and thrust me through with it lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore, Saul took his sword and fell upon it.

⁵ And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him.

⁶ So Saul died and his three sons and his armourbearer and all his men that same day together.

⁷ And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley and those that were on the other side of the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ ¶ And it came to pass on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa.

⁹ And they cut off his head and stripped off his weapons and sent them into the land of the Philistines round about to publish it in the house of their idols and among the people.

¹⁰ And they put his weapons in the house of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan and came to Jabesh and burnt them there.

¹³ And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.1

9 ¶ For regarding the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

² For I know your ready desire, for which I gloried of you to those of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago, and your zeal has provoked many.

³ Yet I have sent the brethren lest our glorying of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready,

⁴ lest haply if those of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed of this our confidence.

⁵ Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would first go unto you and prepare beforehand your blessing, of which ye had given notice before that the same might be ready as a blessing, and not as of covetousness.