Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 3
Trust in God under Adversity
A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.
1 O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying to me,
“There is no help for you[a] in God.” Selah
3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.(A)
4 I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah(B)
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.(C)
6 I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Rise up, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
8 Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
may your blessing be on your people! Selah(D)
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.(A) 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.(B) 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.(C) 4 1
The Ark of God Captured
In those days the Philistines mustered for war against Israel,[a] and Israel went out to battle against them;[b] they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.(D) 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle was joined,[c] Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.
26 For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins(A) 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.(B) 28 Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”(C) 29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?(D) 30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”[a] And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”(E) 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.