Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
David's prayer.
A prayer for help
86 Lord, please listen to me,
and answer me!
I am weak and I need help.
2 I am your faithful servant,
so keep my life safe!
Please save me, my God,
for I trust in you.
3 My Lord, be kind to me.
All through the day,
I am calling to you for help.
4 Please make me happy deep inside,
for you are the one that I pray to, my Lord.
5 Yes, my Lord, you are very kind,
and you are ready to forgive people.
When anyone calls to you for help,
you love them with your faithful love.
6 Lord, hear my prayer!
Please listen when I call to you for help.
7 Whenever trouble comes to me,
I will pray to you.
I know that you will answer me.
8 There is no one like you, my Lord,
among all the gods.
Nobody can do the great things that you do.
9 You have made all the nations of the world,
and they will all come to worship you, my Lord.
They will agree that your name is great.
10 For you are great and you do great things.
You alone are God.
11 Lord, teach me how I should live.
Then I will obey your truth.
Teach me to serve you with all that I am,
so that I respect you with fear.
12 My Lord and my God,
I will thank you with all my strength.
I will praise your name for ever!
13 I know that you love me very much
with your faithful love.
You will continue to keep my life safe,
so that I do not go down into the deep hole of death.
14 God, proud people are attacking me.
Cruel men have joined together to kill me.
They do not respect you at all.
15 But you, my Lord, are a kind God
who forgives people.
You do not quickly become angry,
and your faithful love is very great.
We can always trust you
to do what you have promised.
16 Turn to me and be kind to me.
I am your servant, so make me strong.
Please rescue your slave!
17 Help me, so that I know you are pleased with me.
Then my enemies will see it,
and they will be ashamed.
They will know that you, Lord,
have helped me and comforted me.
27 They walked to the edge of the town. Samuel said to Saul, ‘Tell your servant to go on in front of us.’ So he did that.
Then Samuel said, ‘Stay here for a moment. I need to tell you God's message.’
Samuel anoints Saul
10 Then Samuel took a jar of oil and he poured the oil on Saul's head. He kissed Saul. He said:
‘The Lord has anointed you as the leader of his people.[a] You will rule over them and you will rescue them from the power of their enemies. This is how you will know that the Lord has chosen you to be the leader of the Israelite people:
2 After you leave me today, you will meet two men at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin's land. They will be near the grave where Rachel is buried. The men will say to you, “Someone has found the donkeys that you were looking for. Your father is no longer thinking about his donkeys. Now he is upset because he does not know where you are. He continues to ask, ‘What can I do about my son?’ ”
3 After you leave there, you will reach the big tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They are going to Bethel to worship God there. One of the men will have three young goats with him. One of them will have three loaves of bread. The third man will have a bag full of wine. 4 They will say “hello” to you and they will offer you two loaves of bread. You must accept the bread. 5 Then you must go to God's special hill at Gibeah. Some Philistine soldiers have their camp there. When you reach the town, you will meet a group of prophets. They will be coming down from the hill where people worship God. They will be making music with their harps, tambourines, flutes and lyres. They will be prophesying as they go along. 6 Then the Lord's Spirit will come to you with power. You will start to prophesy too. You will change to become like a different person. 7 After you see these things happen, you must do whatever seems right to you. God will be with you.
8 You must go to Gilgal and then I will come there. I will join with you there to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. You must wait for seven days until I come. When I arrive at Gilgal, I will tell you what you should do.’
Believers belong to God
14 Do not become united with people who do not believe in Christ. God has made you right with himself. Right and wrong cannot work together. Light and dark cannot join together. 15 Christ will never agree with the Devil. People who believe in Christ are completely different from people who do not believe. 16 Idols do not belong in God's house. Remember that we believers are the house of the God who lives for ever. This is what God has said:
‘I will make my home with them and I will live among them.
I will be their God and they will be my people.’[a]
17 And so, the Lord says:
‘Come out from among them and be separate.
Do not touch anything that is disgusting.
Then I will accept you.’[b]
18 He also says:
‘I will be a Father to you.
You will be my sons and my daughters.
That is what the Almighty Lord God says.’[c]
Paul loves the believers at Corinth
7 So, my friends, God has promised these things to us. So we must keep ourselves clean from everything that makes our bodies or our spirits unclean. We must respect and obey God. Then we will become more and more like him.
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