Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 108
A song of David.
1 My heart is committed, O God:
I will sing;
I will sing praises with great affection
and pledge my whole soul to the singing.
2 Wake up the harp and lyre, and strum the strings;
I will stir the sleepy dawn from slumber!
3 I will stand and offer You my thanks, Eternal One, in the presence of others;
I will sing of Your greatness among the nations no matter where I am.
4 For Your amazing love soars overhead far into the heavens;
Your truth rises up to the clouds
where passing light bends.
5 O God, that You would be lifted up above the heavens in the hearts of Your people
until the whole earth knows Your glory.
6 Reach down and rescue those whom You love;
pull us to safety by Your mighty right hand, and answer me.
7 God’s voice has been heard in His holy sanctuary:
“I will celebrate.
I will allocate Shechem and the Succoth Valley to My people.
8 Gilead belongs to Me, and so does Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet that protects My head;
Judah is the scepter through which I rule;
9 Moab is the washpot in which I clean Myself;
I will throw My shoe over Edom in conquest;
Philistia will soon hear My victory shout.”
10 But who will take me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me into Edom?
11 Have You not turned Your back on us, O God?
Will You stay away and not accompany our armies, O God?
12 Help us against our enemy; we need Your help!
It’s useless to trust in the hand of man for liberation.
13 Only through God can we be successful.
It is God alone who will defeat our enemies and bring us victory!
Samuel (to the Israelites): 3 If you really want to totally devote yourselves and return to the Eternal One, then get rid of all the foreign gods and goddesses you have gathered. Devote yourselves to the Eternal, serve Him and Him alone, and He will save you from the oppression of the Philistines.
The Canaanites have a long history of worshiping idols or local gods. In this case, the god being worshiped is Astarte (Ashtoreth), a fertility goddess similar to the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. In Canaanite mythology, she is the sister and wife of the high god Baal. She and similar goddesses are worshiped throughout the ancient Near East; and the children of Israel are constantly falling away from serving the Lord by worshiping Astarte, Baal, and other pagan gods. God commands His people not to raise up idols or bow down to any gods except Him. Along with the worship of these gods come many strange practices that pollute the people of the Lord.
4 So the people of Israel got rid of their gods and goddesses,[a] and they began to serve only the Eternal One.
Samuel: 5 Assemble all of Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Eternal on your behalf.
6 That day they gathered at Mizpah, drew water, poured it out ritually in front of the Eternal One, and fasted.
People: We have sinned. We have rebelled against the Eternal.
Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah, delivering the people from danger and establishing justice in the land.
7 When the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines gathered an armed force and went to attack them. When the people of Israel heard that the Philistines were coming, they were filled with fear. They turned to God’s prophet.
People of Israel (to Samuel): 8 Don’t stop calling out to the Eternal our God for us. Ask Him to save us from the Philistine army that is coming.
9 Samuel took a young lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Eternal One. He called out to the Eternal on behalf of Israel, and the Eternal responded. Here is what happened: 10 As Samuel was performing the sacrifice, the voice of the Eternal rolled like thunder and confused the advancing Philistine army so that Israel easily struck them down. 11 From Mizpah, the Israelites chased them beyond Beth-car, striking them along the way.
12 That’s why Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen; and he called that stone Ebenezer, which means “rock of help,” for he said,
Samuel: The Eternal One has helped us so far.
13 So the Philistines were humbled and did not invade the lands of Israel again. The Eternal One held off the Philistines for as long as Samuel judged Israel. 14 The Israelite cities the Philistines had seized between Ekron and Gath were returned, and Israel took its territory back from Philistine rule. There was also peace with the Amorites.
15 Now Samuel was a prophet and judge over Israel for the rest of his life.
In one of the final, decisive battles, the rider on the white horse leads the armies of heaven against the enemy armies of the beast and the false prophet. His enemies are easily defeated, and the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. When the battle is over, the rider known as “King of kings and Lord of lords” turns His attention to the dragon.
20 Then I saw a messenger coming from heaven. In his hand was a key to the abyss and a great chain that had been forged in heaven. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years with the great chain. 3 The messenger cast him into the abyss and locked it and sealed him in it so that he could not go about deceiving the nations until the 1,000 years had come to completion. Afterward he must be released for a short time.
4 Then I saw some thrones, and those seated in judgment were given the right to judge. Standing there were the souls of those who were beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and the word of God. They had refused to worship the beast or its detestable image and had not received the mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands. They had come back to life and reigned with the Anointed One, our Liberating King, for 1,000 years. 5 Now as for the rest of the dead, they were not given life until the 1,000 years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy are the ones who take part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power; they will serve as priests of God and His Anointed, and they will reign with Him for 1,000 years.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.