Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God in the Thunderstorm
A psalm of David.
29 ·Praise [T Ascribe to] the Lord, you ·angels [L sons of God; C God’s council];
·Praise the Lord’s [T Ascribe to the Lord] glory and power.
2 ·Praise the Lord for [T Ascribe to the Lord] the glory of his name;
worship the Lord ·because he is holy [L in the splendor of his holiness].
3 The Lord’s voice [C thunder] is heard over the ·sea [L waters; C a symbol of chaos].
The glorious God thunders;
the Lord thunders over the ·ocean [L many/mighty waters].
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful;
the Lord’s voice is ·majestic [splendid; awesome].
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the ·trees [L cedars];
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon [C the most famous cedar forests].
6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf
and ·Mount Hermon [L Sirion] jump like a baby bull.
7 The Lord’s voice ·makes the lightning flash [strikes with flashes of lightning].
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the ·desert [wilderness];
the Lord shakes the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice ·shakes the oaks [or makes the deer give birth]
and strips the ·leaves off the trees [L forests bare].
In his Temple everyone says, “Glory!”
10 The Lord ·controls [L is enthroned over] the flood [C controls chaos].
The Lord ·will be [L is enthroned as] King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
3 Samuel spoke to ·the whole group [L all the people/house] of Israel, saying, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must ·remove [get rid of; banish] your foreign gods and your idols of Ashtoreth. You must ·give yourselves [commit; direct your hearts] fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will ·save [rescue; deliver] you from the Philistines.”
4 So the Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·put away [got rid of; banished] their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth, and they served only the Lord.
5 Samuel said, “·All Israel must meet [Gather/Assemble all of Israel] at Mizpah [C just north of Jerusalem within the tribe of Benjamin], and I will ·pray to [plead to; intercede with] the Lord for you.” 6 So the Israelites ·met together [gathered; assembled] at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord [C a ritual not commonly found in the OT] and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel ·served as judge of [judged] Israel at Mizpah.
7 The Philistines heard the Israelites were ·meeting [gathered; assembled] at Mizpah, so the Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords] came up to attack them. When ·the Israelites [sons/T children of Israel] heard they were coming, they were afraid. 8 They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop ·praying [pleading; interceding; crying out] to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to ·save [rescue; deliver] us from the [L hand of the] Philistines!” 9 Then Samuel took a ·baby [suckling] lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering [C an atonement sacrifice; Lev. 1]. He ·called to [pleaded/interceded with; cried out to] the Lord for Israel’s sake, and the Lord ·answered [heard] him.
10 While Samuel was ·burning [sacrificing] the [L burnt] offering, the Philistines came near to attack Israel. But [L on that day] the Lord thundered against them with ·loud thunder [a loud voice]. They were ·so frightened they became confused. So [… thrown into such a panic that] the Israelites ·defeated [routed] the Philistines in battle. 11 The men of Israel ·ran [rushed; L went] out of Mizpah and ·chased [pursued] the Philistines almost to Beth Car [C exact location is unknown], ·killing the Philistines [slaughtering them] along the way.
Peace Comes to Israel
12 After this happened Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.[a] He named the stone Ebenezer [C “Stone of help”], saying, “The Lord has helped us ·to this point [this far].” 13 So the Philistines were ·defeated [subdued; humbled] and did not enter the Israelites’ ·land [borders] again.
The [L hand of the] Lord was against the Philistines all Samuel’s life. 14 Earlier the Philistines had taken towns from the Israelites, but ·the Israelites won them back [they were restored to Israel], from Ekron [5:10] to Gath [5:8]. They also took back from the [L hand of the] Philistines the ·lands [territory] near these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel ·continued as judge of [judged] Israel all [L the days of] his life. 16 Every year he went [L on circuit] from Bethel [C north of Jerusalem, near Ai in the central hill country] to Gilgal [C near Jericho] to Mizpah and judged the Israelites in all these towns. 17 But he always went back to Ramah [1:1], where his home was. There he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord.
19 After he ate some food, his strength returned.
Saul Preaches in Damascus
Saul stayed with the ·followers of Jesus [disciples] in Damascus for ·a few [several; some] days. 20 ·Soon [Immediately; At once] he began to ·preach about [proclaim] Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “·Jesus [L This one; He] is the Son of God.”
21 All the people who heard him were amazed. They said, “·This is [L Isn’t this…?] the man who was in Jerusalem ·trying to destroy [raising havoc for; attacking] those who ·trust in [or worship; L call on] this name [C the name of Jesus; the name represents the person]! He came here to ·arrest [bind] them and take them back to the ·leading [T chief] priests.”
22 But Saul grew more ·powerful [capable; effective]. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that ·his own people [L the Jews who lived] in Damascus ·could not argue with [were baffled/confounded by] him.
23 ·After many days [or Some time later], ·they [L the Jews] ·made plans [plotted] to kill Saul. 24 They were watching the city gates day and night [L in order to kill him], but Saul learned about their ·plan [plot]. 25 One night some ·followers [disciples] of Saul helped him leave the city by lowering him in a basket through an opening in the city wall [2 Cor. 11:32–33].
Saul Preaches in Jerusalem
26 When Saul went to Jerusalem [Gal. 1:18], he tried to ·join [associate with] the ·group of followers [disciples], but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he was really a ·follower [disciple]. 27 But Barnabas ·accepted [or took hold of] Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas explained to them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how ·boldly [fearlessly] Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28 And so Saul stayed with the ·followers [disciples], ·going everywhere [or going around openly with them; L going in and going out] in Jerusalem, preaching ·boldly [fearlessly] in the name of the Lord. 29 He would often talk and ·argue [debate] with the ·Jewish people who spoke Greek [L Hellenists; C Jews who spoke Greek and had returned to Israel after living abroad], but they were trying to kill him. 30 When the ·followers [L brothers] learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea [C city on the Mediterranean coast] and from there sent him to Tarsus [9:11].
31 [Then; or Therefore] The church everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria [C areas that comprise ancient Israel] had a time of peace and ·became stronger [L was built up/edified]. ·Respecting the Lord by the way they lived [L Walking in the fear of the Lord], and being ·encouraged [comforted; exhorted] by the Holy Spirit, ·the group of believers [L it] continued to grow.
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