Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
Capture of the Ark Provokes God
5 Now the Philistines took the ark of God and (A)brought it from Ebenezer to (B)Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into (C)the house of Dagon, and placed it beside Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites got up early the next day, behold, (D)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and (E)set him back in his place. 4 But when they got up early the next morning, behold, (F)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; [a]only the torso of Dagon was left. 5 For that reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon’s house (G)step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6 Now (H)the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and (I)He made them feel devastated and struck them with (J)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. 7 When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, because His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 So they sent word and (K)gathered all the governors of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Have the ark of the God of Israel [b]brought to Gath.” So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. 9 After they had taken it away, (L)the hand of the Lord was against the city, creating a very great panic; and He struck the people of the city, from the young to the old, so that (M)tumors broke out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to [c]us, to kill [d]us and [e]our people!” 11 Therefore they (N)sent word and gathered all the governors of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill [f]us and [g]our people!” For there was a deadly panic throughout the city; (O)the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the people who did not die were struck with tumors, and (P)the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
The Temporal and Eternal
5 For we know that if our [a](A)earthly (B)tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house (C)not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed, in this tent we (D)groan, longing to be (E)clothed with our [b]dwelling from heaven, 3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed, we who are in this tent (F)groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be (G)clothed, so that what is (H)mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who (I)gave us the Spirit as a [c]pledge.
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