Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 29[a]
God’s Majesty in the Storm
1 A psalm of David.
Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,[b]
ascribe to the Lord glory and might.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;[c]
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord[d] echoes over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is filled with majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord shatters the cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.[e]
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion[f] like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth
with bolts of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.[g]
9 The voice of the Lord batters the oaks
and strips the forests bare,
while in his temple all cry out, “Glory!”[h]
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood;[i]
the Lord is enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord grant strength to his people.
May the Lord bless his people with peace.
3 Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you intend to return to the Lord with your whole heart, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods you have among you, the Astartes, and commit your hearts to serve the Lord alone, then he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites threw away their Baals and Astartes,[a] and served the Lord alone.
5 Samuel then said, “Assemble all of the Israelites at Mizpah,[b] and I will intercede to the Lord for you.” 6 When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it[c] before the Lord. They fasted that day and confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now, Samuel was the judge of the Israelites at Mizpah.
Defeat of the Philistines. 7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up to attack them. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Intercede for us unceasingly with the Lord, our God, that he might deliver us from the power of the Philistines.”
9 So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord for the sake of Israel, and the Lord heard him.
10 While Samuel was performing the sacrifice, the Philistines drew near to engage the Israelites in combat. The Lord boomed with a loud thunder that day, and the Philistines panicked and they were defeated by the Israelites. 11 The men of Israel rushed out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines. They slaughtered them all the way to Beth-car. 12 Samuel then took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He called it “Ebenezer,” saying “the Lord helped us here.”[d]
13 Thus the Philistines were defeated and they no longer raided the territory of Israel. The hand of the Lord was raised against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. 14 The towns that lay between Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to the Israelites, and Israel was able to deliver its borderlands from the hands of the Philistines. There was even peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel continued to serve as the judge of Israel throughout his entire lifetime. 16 Each year he made a circuit among Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, judging Israel in all of those places, 17 but he always returned to Ramah, for that was his home, and he judged Israel there, too. He built an altar to Yahweh there.
19 then, after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul Preaches in Damascus. For several days, Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astounded, and they said, “Is not this the man who in Jerusalem was persecuting those who invoked this name? And did he not come here for the specific purpose of arresting them so that they might be taken to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul’s strength continued to increase, and he confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by showing that Jesus is indeed the Christ.
23 After some time had passed, the Jews devised a plan to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were keeping watch on the city gates day and night so that they might kill him, 25 but his disciples took him one night and let him down in a basket over the wall.
26 Saul in Jerusalem and Tarsus. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him because they did not believe that he had become a disciple. 27 However, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He related to them how on his journey Saul had seen the Lord who had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
28 Saul then moved about with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He also engaged in debate with the Hellenists[a] but they began planning to kill him. 30 When the brethren learned of this, they brought him to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.[b]
31 Period of Peace for the Church.[c]Meanwhile, the Church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, building up strength and living in the fear of the Lord. Encouraged by the Holy Spirit,[d] the Church grew in numbers.
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