Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Praised and Pleas to Give Victory.

A Song, a Psalm of David.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “^(A)If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then ^(B)remove the foreign gods and the ^(C)Ashtaroth from among you, and ^(D)direct your hearts to the Lord and ^(E)serve Him alone; and He will save you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord alone.

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

⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the governors of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard about it, ^(K)they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(L)Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines!” ⁹ Samuel took ^(M)a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and ^(N)the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines advanced to battle Israel. But ^(O)the Lord thundered with a great ^[a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(P)confused them, so that they were struck down before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(Q)took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[b]Ebenezer, saying, “^[c]So far the Lord has helped us.” ^13 (R)So the Philistines were subdued, and ^(S)they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel ^[d]recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^(T)the Amorites.

Samuel’s Ministry

¹⁵ Now Samuel ^(U)judged Israel all the days of his life.

Satan Bound

20 Then I saw ^(A)an angel coming down from heaven, holding the ^(B)key of the abyss and a great chain ^[a]in his hand. ² And he took hold of the ^(C)dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and ^(D)bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he threw him into the ^(E)abyss and shut it and ^(F)sealed it over him, so that he would ^(G)not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

⁴ Then I saw ^(H)thrones, and ^(I)they sat on them, and ^(J)judgment was given to them. And I saw ^(K)the souls of those who had been beheaded because of ^[b]their ^(L)testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not ^(M)worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the ^(N)mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they ^(O)came to life and ^(P)reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. ^(Q)This is the first resurrection. ^6 (R)Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the ^(S)second death has no power, but they will be ^(T)priests of God and of Christ, and will ^(U)reign with Him for a thousand years.