Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
[a] To the director: A song of David, the Lord’s servant. He sang this song to the Lord when the Lord saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.
18 I love you, Lord!
You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my place of safety.
He is my God, the Rock I run to for protection.
He is my shield; by his power I am saved.[b]
He is my hiding place high in the hills.
3 I called to the Lord for help,
and he saved me from my enemies!
He is worthy of my praise!
4 Death had its ropes wrapped around me.
A deadly flood was carrying me away.
5 The ropes of the grave wrapped around me.
Death set its trap right there in front of me.
6 In my trouble I called to the Lord.
Yes, I cried out to my God for help.
There in his temple he heard my voice.
He heard my cry for help.
43 You saved me from those who fought against me.
You made me the ruler over nations.
People I never knew now serve me.
44 As soon as they heard about me, they were ready to obey.
Those foreigners fall helpless before me!
45 They lose all their courage
and come out of their hiding places shaking with fear.
46 The Lord lives!
I praise my Rock, the God who saves me.
How great he is!
47 He is the God who punishes my enemies for me,
the one who puts people under my control.
48 He saves me from my enemies!
You, Lord, help me defeat those who attack me.
You save me from cruel people.
49 Lord, that is why I praise you among the nations.
That is why I sing songs of praise to your name.
50 The Lord helps his king win battle after battle.
He shows his faithful love to his chosen one,[a]
to David and his descendants forever.
The Death of Saul
31 Meanwhile, the Philistines fought against the Israelites, and the Israelites ran from them. There were many dead bodies that fell at Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines fought hard against Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki Shua.
3 The battle grew even more intense around Saul. The archers closed in on Saul and wounded him with many arrows. 4 Saul told the boy who carried his armor, “Take your sword and kill me or else these foreigners will do it and torment me as well!” But Saul’s helper was afraid and refused to kill him. So Saul took out his own sword and fell on it.
5 When the helper saw that Saul was dead, he took out his own sword, fell on it, and died there with Saul. 6 So Saul, his three sons, and the boy who carried his armor all died together that day.
The Philistines Rejoice at Saul’s Death
7 The Israelites who lived on the other side of the valley saw the Israelite army running away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead, so they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in their cities.
8 The next day, the Philistines went back to take things from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and took all his armor. They carried the news to the Philistines and to all the temples of their idols. 10 They put Saul’s armor in the temple of Ashtoreth. The Philistines also hung Saul’s body on the wall of Beth Shan.[a]
11 The people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines did to Saul. 12 So all the soldiers of Jabesh went to Beth Shan. They marched all night, went to the wall of Beth Shan, and took down the bodies of Saul and his sons. Then they carried them to Jabesh. There the people of Jabesh burned the bodies of Saul and his three sons. 13 Later, they buried the bones of Saul and his three sons under the big tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh showed their sadness—they did not eat for seven days.
Your Giving Is a Blessing
9 I really don’t need to write to you about this help for God’s people. 2 I know that you want to help. I have been bragging about you to the people in Macedonia. I told them that you people in Achaia have been ready to give since last year. And your desire to give has made most of the people here ready to give also. 3 But I am sending these brothers to you. I don’t want our bragging about you in this to be for nothing. I want you to be ready just as I said you would be. 4 If any of those from Macedonia come with me, and they find that you are not ready, we will be ashamed. We will be ashamed that we were so sure of you. And you will be ashamed too! 5 So I thought that I should ask these brothers to come there before we do. They will help in getting together the generous gift you promised. Then it will be ready when we come, and it will be seen as a blessing you are giving, not as something you were forced to do.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International