Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, [a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18 “I love You, O Lord, (A)my strength.”
2 The Lord is (B)my [b]rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)cords of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of [c]ungodliness [d]terrified me.
5 The (L)cords of [e]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)out of His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
43 You have delivered me from the (A)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as (B)head of the nations;
A (C)people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners [a](D)submit to me.
45 Foreigners (E)fade away,
And (F)come trembling out of their [b]fortresses.
46 The Lord (G)lives, and blessed be (H)my rock;
And exalted be (I)the God of my salvation,
47 The God who (J)executes vengeance for me,
And (K)subdues peoples under me.
48 He (L)delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You (M)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the (N)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (O)give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord,
And I will (P)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [c](Q)deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to (R)His anointed,
To David and (S)his [d]descendants forever.
Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons
10 (A)Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, [a](B)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers [b]overtook him; and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. (C)Therefore Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died. 6 (D)Thus Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.
7 When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 (E)So they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul
11 When all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (F)all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 (G)So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also (H)because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and (I)turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
All Things Possible
14 (A)When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were (B)amazed and began running up to greet Him. 16 And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and [a]whenever it seizes him, it [b]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and [c]stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought [d]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ (C)All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that (D)a crowd was [e]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I [f]command you, come out of him and do not enter him [g]again.” 26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. 28 When He came (E)into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.