Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 18[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Help
1 For the director.[b] Of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song after the Lord had rescued him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:
I love you, O Lord, my strength,
3 O Lord, my rock,[c] my fortress, my deliverer.
My God is my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy of all praise;
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 The cords of death encompassed me,
and the torrents of destruction assailed me.
6 The cords of the netherworld ensnared me,
and the snares of death[d] rose up before me.
43 I crushed them like fine dust before the wind;
I trod on them like mud in the streets.
44 You delivered me from a people in rebellion,
and you placed me in charge of the nations;
people I did not know have become my subjects.
45 As soon as they heard me, they obeyed;
foreigners groveled before me.
46 Then they became disheartened
and came forth trembling from their strongholds.
47 The Lord lives! Blessed[a] be my Rock!
Exalted be God, my Savior!
48 O God, you obtained vindication for me,
subjected nations under me,
49 and freed me from my enemies.
You exalted me over my adversaries
and delivered me from the violent.
50 For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations
and sing praise to your name.[b]
Chapter 31[a]
The Death of Saul. 1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the Israelites fled before the Philistines, and many were killed at Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pressed hard upon Saul and his sons. His sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua were killed by the Philistines.
3 There was fierce fighting around Saul, and when the archers found their mark, they seriously wounded him. 4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust it through me, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me.” But the armor-bearer would not do this for he was terrified. Saul, therefore, took his sword and fell upon it. 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he, too, fell upon his sword and died with him.
6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all of his men died together on the same day. 7 When the Israelites on the other side of the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the Israelites had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities, and the Philistines came and occupied them.
8 The next day the Philistines came out to strip the dead, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Astartes, and they fastened his body to the wall in Beth-shan.
11 Saul Is Buried.[b] When those living in Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all of their brave men traveled during the night and took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. They went to Jabesh where they cremated them. 13 They took their bones and they buried them under a tree in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.[c]
Chapter 9
Let the Offering Be Ready. 1 In regard to the ministry toward the saints, there really is no necessity for me to write to you. 2 For I am fully aware of your eagerness to help, which has been the subject of my boasting about you to the Macedonians, telling them that Achaia has been ready since last year. Your ardor has excited most of them.
3 Nevertheless, I am sending the brethren to ensure that our boasts about you may not seem to have been offered in vain. I want you to be as prepared as I said you would be. 4 For if I bring some Macedonians with me and they come to the realization that you are not prepared, it would be a source of shame to us—to say nothing of you—because of our confidence in you. 5 Therefore, I thought it necessary to encourage the brethren to go on to you ahead of us and arrange in advance for the gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a genuine gift and not as something that has been granted grudgingly.
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