Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 108
A song. A Psalm of David.
1 O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast, in the confidence of faith); I will sing, yes, I will sing praises, even with my glory [all the faculties and powers of one created in Your image]!
2 Awake, harp and lyre; I myself will wake very early—I will waken the dawn!
3 I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; and I will sing praises unto You among the nations.
4 For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great and high as the heavens! Your truth and faithfulness reach to the skies!(A)
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth.
6 That Your beloved [followers] may be delivered, save with Your right hand and answer us! [or me]!
7 God has promised in His holiness [regarding the establishment of David’s dynasty]: I will rejoice, I will distribute [Canaan among My people], dividing Shechem and [the western region and allotting the eastern region which contains] the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is My stronghold and the defense of My head; Judah is My scepter and lawgiver.(B)
9 Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom [My slave] My shoe I cast [to be cleaned]; over Philistia I shout [in triumph].
10 Who will bring me [David] into the strong, fortified city [of Petra]? Who will lead me into Edom?
11 Have You not cast us off, O God? And will You not go forth, O God, with our armies?
12 Give us help against the adversary, for vain is the help of man.
13 Through and with God we shall do valiantly, for He it is Who shall tread down our adversaries.(C)
8 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.
3 His sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
4 All the elders of Israel assembled and came to Samuel at Ramah
5 And said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.
6 But it displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to govern us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to the voice of the people in all they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be King over them.
8 According to all the works which they have done since I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they also do to you.
9 So listen now to their voice; only solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king.
11 And he said, These will be the ways of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
12 He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.
14 He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive orchards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
16 He will take your men and women servants and the best of your cattle and your donkeys and put them to his work.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves shall be his slaves.
18 In that day you will cry out because of your king you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not hear you then.
19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, No! We will have a king over us,
20 That we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.
21 Samuel heard all the people’s words and repeated them in the Lord’s ears.
22 And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to their voice and appoint them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go every man to his city.
7 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his place of confinement,
8 And he will go forth to deceive and seduce and lead astray the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth—Gog and Magog—to muster them for war; their number is like the sand of the sea.(A)
9 And they swarmed up over the broad plain of the earth and encircled the fortress (camp) of God’s people (the saints) and the beloved city; but fire descended from heaven and consumed them.(B)
10 Then the devil who had led them astray [deceiving and seducing them] was hurled into the fiery lake of burning brimstone, where the beast and false prophet were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (through the ages of the ages).
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it, from Whose presence and from the sight of Whose face earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 I [also] saw the dead, great and small; they stood before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged (sentenced) by what they had done [[a]their whole way of feeling and acting, their aims and endeavors] in accordance with what was recorded in the books.
13 And the sea delivered up the dead who were in it, death and Hades ([b]the state of death or disembodied existence) surrendered the dead in them, and all were tried and their cases determined by what they had done [according to their motives, aims, and works].
14 Then death and Hades ([c]the state of death or disembodied existence) were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.
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