Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you ^(A)return to the Lord with all your hearts, then ^(B)put away the foreign gods and the ^(C)Ashtoreths^[a] from among you, and ^(D)prepare your hearts for the Lord, and ^(E)serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the children of Israel put away the ^(F)Baals and the ^[b]Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

⁵ And Samuel said, ^(G)“Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and ^(H)I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered together at Mizpah, ^(I)drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they ^(J)fasted that day, and said there, ^(K)“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ So the children of Israel said to Samuel, ^(L)“Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹ And Samuel took a ^(M)suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then ^(N)Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. ^(O)But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and ^[c]drove them back as far as below Beth Car. ¹² Then Samuel ^(P)took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name ^[d]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

^13 (Q)So the Philistines were subdued, and they ^(R)did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ And Samuel ^(S)judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ But ^(T)he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he ^(U)built an altar to the Lord.

¹⁹ So when he had received food, he was strengthened. ^(A)Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Saul Preaches Christ

²⁰ Immediately he preached ^[a]the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

²¹ Then all who heard were amazed, and said, ^(B)“Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

²² But Saul increased all the more in strength, ^(C)and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

Saul Escapes Death

²³ Now after many days were past, ^(D)the Jews plotted to kill him. ^24 (E)But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. ²⁵ Then the disciples took him by night and ^(F)let him down through the wall in a large basket.

Saul at Jerusalem

²⁶ And ^(G)when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. ^27 (H)But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, ^(I)and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So ^(J)he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. ²⁹ And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the ^(K)Hellenists,^{[b] (L)}but they attempted to kill him. ³⁰ When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

The Church Prospers

^31 (M)Then the ^[c]churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were ^(N)edified.^[d] And walking in the ^(O)fear of the Lord and in the ^(P)comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were ^(Q)multiplied.