Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 138
By David.
1 I will give thanks to you with all my heart.
I will make music to praise you in front of the false gods.
2 I will bow toward your holy temple.
I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth.
You have made your name and your promise greater than everything.
3 When I called, you answered me.
You made me bold by strengthening my soul.[a]
4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Yahweh,
because they have heard the promises you spoke.
5 They will sing this about the ways of Yahweh:
“Yahweh’s honor is great!”
6 Even though Yahweh is high above, he sees humble people close up,
and he recognizes arrogant people from a distance.
7 Even though I walk into the middle of trouble,
you guard my life against the anger of my enemies.
You stretch out your hand,
and your right hand saves me.
8 Yahweh will do everything for me.
O Yahweh, your mercy endures forever.
Do not let go of what your hands have made.
The Ark in Philistia
5 After the Philistines had captured the ark of Elohim, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 They brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3 Early the next day the people of Ashdod saw that Dagon had fallen forward on the ground in front of Yahweh’s ark. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the next morning they saw that Dagon had again fallen forward on the ground in front of Yahweh’s ark. Dagon’s head and his two hands were cut off and were lying on the temple’s threshold. The rest of Dagon’s body was intact.[a] 5 This is why the priests of Dagon and everyone else who comes into Dagon’s temple in Ashdod still don’t step on the temple’s threshold.
6 Yahweh dealt harshly with the people of Ashdod. He destroyed them by striking the people in the vicinity of Ashdod with tumors. 7 When the people of Ashdod realized what was happening, they said, “The ark of the Elohim of Israel must not stay with us, because their Elohim is dealing harshly with us and our god Dagon.” 8 The people of Ashdod called together all the Philistine rulers. “What should we do with the ark of the Elohim of Israel?” they asked.
“The ark of the Elohim of Israel must be taken to Gath,” the rulers said.[b] So the people took the ark of the Elohim of Israel there.
9 But after they had moved it,[c] Yahweh threw the city into a great panic: He struck all the important and unimportant people in the city, and they were covered with tumors. 10 So the people of Gath sent the ark of Elohim to Ekron. But when the ark of Elohim came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They brought the ark of the Elohim of Israel here to kill us.” 11 They called together all the Philistine rulers. “Send the ark of the Elohim of Israel away,” they said. “Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us or our people.” There was a fear of death throughout the city, where Elohim dealt with them very harshly. 12 The people who didn’t die were struck with tumors. So the cry of the city went up to heaven.
Faith Guides Our Lives
5 We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn’t made by human hands. 2 In our present tent-like existence we sigh, since we long to put on the house we will have in heaven. 3 After we have put it on,[a] we won’t be naked. 4 While we are in this tent, we sigh. We feel distressed because we don’t want to take off the tent, but we do want to put on the eternal house. Then eternal life will put an end to our mortal existence. 5 God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit to guarantee it.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.