Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 95

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!

² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

⁴ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.

⁵ The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].

⁷ For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,^(A)

⁸ Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness,^(B)

⁹ When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].

¹⁰ Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.

¹¹ Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].^(C)

16 The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.

² Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.

³ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.

⁴ And Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, Have you come peaceably?

⁵ And he said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they had come, he looked on Eliab [the eldest son] and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. But Samuel said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.

⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. Samuel said, Nor has the Lord chosen him.

¹⁰ Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these.

¹¹ Then [he] said to Jesse, Are all your sons here? [Jesse] said, There is yet the youngest; he is tending the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send for him; for we will not sit down to eat until he is here.

¹² Jesse sent and brought him. David had a healthy reddish complexion and beautiful eyes, and was fine-looking. The Lord said [to Samuel], Arise, anoint him; this is he.

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

5 I warn and counsel the elders among you (the pastors and spiritual guides of the church) as a fellow elder and as an eyewitness [called to testify] of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a sharer in the glory (the honor and splendor) that is to be revealed (disclosed, unfolded):

² Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility], not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by the advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully;

³ Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge, but being examples (patterns and models of Christian living) to the flock (the congregation).

⁴ And [then] when the Chief Shepherd is revealed, you will win the ^[a]conqueror’s crown of glory.

⁵ Likewise, you who are younger and of lesser rank, be subject to the elders (the ministers and spiritual guides of the church)—[giving them due respect and yielding to their counsel]. Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility [as the garb of a servant, ^[b]so that its covering cannot possibly be stripped from you, with freedom from pride and arrogance] toward one another. For God sets Himself against the proud (the insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful)—[and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them], but gives grace (favor, blessing) to the humble.^(A)