Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
With God We Do Valiantly
Psalm 108
1 A song, a psalm of David.
2 My heart is steadfast, O God.
I will sing, sing praises with all my soul.
3 Awake, harp and lyre—
I will awaken the dawn!
4 I will give thanks to You, Adonai, among the peoples,
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
5 For Your love is higher than the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
let Your glory be above all the earth.
7 Let Your beloved ones be delivered.
Save with Your right hand, answer me!
8 God has spoken in His Sanctuary:
“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem,
and measure out the valley of Succot.
9 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine.
Also Ephraim is a helmet for My head,
Judah is my scepter.
10 Moab is My washbowl.
I throw my shoe on Edom.
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
11 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
12 O God, have You not spurned us?
Will You go out no more with our armies?
13 Give us help against the adversary—
for useless is deliverance through man.
14 With God we will do valiantly—
and He will trample our foes.
Israel Demands a King
8 Now when Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second Abijah—they were judges in Beersheba. 3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain—they took bribes and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Behold, you have grown old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us—like all the nations.” 6 But the matter was displeasing in Samuel’s eyes when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to Adonai.
7 Then Adonai said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For they have not rejected you, rather they have rejected Me from being king over them. 8 Like all the deeds that they have done since the day I brought them out of Egypt to this day—forsaking Me and worshiping other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 So now, listen to their voice. However, you must earnestly forewarn them, and declare to them the rulings of the king who will reign over them.”
10 Now Samuel reported all the words of Adonai to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 “This will be the practice of the king that will reign over you,” he said. “He will draft your sons and assign them as his charioteers and horsemen, and they will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint them as commanders of thousands and captains of fifties, also some to plow his fields, reap his harvest, make his weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. 13 Also he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks and bakers. 14 He will seize the best of your fields, vineyards and olive groves, and give them to his courtiers. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage and give it to his officials and slaves. 16 He will also take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. 17 He will also take the tenth of your flocks. Then you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When the day comes and you cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, Adonai will not answer you on that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel, and they said, “No! But a king should be over us! 20 So we may become like all the nations—having our king who will judge us, go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 After Samuel heard all the words of the people, he reported them back in the hearing of Adonai. 22 Adonai said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint a king to reign for them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, each one to his town.”
Judgment After 1000 Years
7 When the thousand years has ended, satan shall be released from his prison, 8 and he shall come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for the battle.[a] Their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the kedoshim and the beloved city—but fire fell from heaven and consumed them.[b]
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they shall be tortured day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds. [c] 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.
14 Then death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.