Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
105 O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people.
2 Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him; talk ye of all His wondrous works.
3 Glory ye in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore.
5 Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth,
6 O ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are over all the earth.
8 He hath remembered His covenant for ever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
9 which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac,
10 and confirmed the same unto Jacob as a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,”
12 when they were but a few men in number, yea, very few and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people,
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes,
15 saying, “Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.”
16 Moreover He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph who was sold as a servant,
18 whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in irons.
19 Until the time when his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tried him.
20 The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to command his princes at his pleasure and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And He increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate His people and to deal subtly with His servants.
26 He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against His word.
29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their borders.
32 He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees, and broke the trees of their borders.
34 He spoke and the locusts came, and caterpillars without number,
35 and they ate up all the herbs in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering and fire to give light in the night.
40 The people asked, and He brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock and the waters gushed out, and ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham His servant.
20 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them others besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came some who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side of Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.”
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
6 and said, “O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? And rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee?
7 Art not Thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend for ever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying,
9 ‘If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house and in Thy presence (for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help.’
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom Thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not”
11 behold, I say, how they reward us by coming to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit.
12 O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.”
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation.
15 And he said, “Hearken ye, all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat! Thus saith the Lord unto you: ‘Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.”
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And they rose early in the morning and went forth into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God; so shall ye be established. Believe His prophets; so shall ye prosper.”
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord who should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever.”
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were smitten.
22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
23 Then said one unto Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said unto them,
24 “Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able.
25 When once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut the door, and ye begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open unto us,’ and He shall answer and say unto you, ‘I know you not from whence ye are,’
26 then shall ye begin to say, ‘We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.’
27 But He shall say, ‘I tell you, I know you not from whence ye are. Depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.’
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
29 And they shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God.
30 And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”
31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto Him, “Get thee out and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee.”
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