Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Joy in the Salvation of the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
21 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord;
And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
And have not withheld the (A)request of his lips. Selah
3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4 (B)He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in Your salvation;
Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
6 For You have made him most blessed forever;
(C)You have made him [a]exceedingly glad with Your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be [b]moved.
8 Your hand will find all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find those who hate You.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;
The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
10 Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth,
And their [c]descendants from among the sons of men.
11 For they intended evil against You;
They devised a plot which they are not able to (D)perform.
12 Therefore You will make them turn their back;
You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength!
We will sing and praise Your power.
The Philistines Defeated(A)
17 (B)Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it (C)and went down to the stronghold. 18 The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in (D)the Valley of Rephaim. 19 So David (E)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”
And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
20 So David went to (F)Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place [a]Baal Perazim. 21 And they left their [b]images there, and David and his men (G)carried them away.
22 (H)Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. 23 Therefore (I)David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. 24 And it shall be, when you (J)hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then (K)the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 25 And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from (L)Geba[c] as far as (M)Gezer.
Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve
7 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, (A)because the [a]Jews sought to kill Him. 2 (B)Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 (C)His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For (D)even His (E)brothers did not believe in Him.
6 Then Jesus said to them, (F)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 (G)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me (H)because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not [b]yet going up to this feast, (I)for My time has not yet fully come.” 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.