Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 My heart is fixed, O God: I will sing, yea, I will sing psalms, even [with] my glory.
2 Awake, lute and harp: I will wake the dawn.
3 I will give thee thanks among the peoples, O Jehovah; of thee will I sing psalms among the nations:
4 For thy loving-kindness is great above the heavens, and thy truth is unto the clouds.
5 Be thou exalted above the heavens, O God, and thy glory above all the earth.
6 That thy beloved ones may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.
7 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my law-giver;
9 Moab is my wash-pot; upon Edom will I cast my sandal; over Philistia will I shout aloud.
10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me unto Edom?
11 [Wilt] not [thou], O God, who didst cast us off? and didst not go forth, O God, with our armies?
12 Give us help from trouble; for vain is man's deliverance.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly; and he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
9 And there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, a mighty man of wealth.
2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, choice and comely; and there was not among the children of Israel a comelier person than he; from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
3 And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost; and Kish said to Saul his son, Take, I pray, one of the young men with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.
4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they found [them] not; and they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there; and they passed through the land of Benjamin, and they found [them] not.
5 They had come to the land of Zuph when Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come and let us return; lest my father give up the asses, and be anxious about us.
6 And he said to him, Behold now, a man of God is in this city, and the man is held in honour; all that he says comes surely to pass. Let us now go thither: perhaps he will shew us the way that we should go.
7 And Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and we have no present to give to the man of God: what have we?
8 And the servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver; that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.
9 (In former time in Israel, when a man went to ask counsel of God, he said, Come and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a Prophet was in former time called a Seer.)
10 And Saul said to his servant, Well said: come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was.
11 As they went up the ascent to the city, they met maidens going forth to draw water; and they said to them, Is the seer here?
12 And they answered them and said, He is; behold, he is before thee: make haste now, for he came to-day to the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place.
13 As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people eat not until he has come, because he blesses the sacrifice; afterwards they eat that are invited. And now go up; for this very day shall ye find him.
14 And they went up into the city. As they were coming into the midst of the city, behold, Samuel was coming out towards them, to go up to the high place.
14 And he was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came to pass, the demon being gone out, the dumb [man] spoke. And the crowds wondered.
15 But some from among them said, By Beelzebub the prince of the demons casts he out demons.
16 And others tempting [him] sought from him a sign out of heaven.
17 But *he*, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and a house set against a house falls;
18 and if also Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom subsist? because ye say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub.
19 But if *I* by Beelzebub cast out demons, your sons—by whom do they cast [them] out? For this reason *they* shall be your judges.
20 But if by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.
21 When the strong [man] armed keeps his own house, his goods are in peace;
22 but when the stronger than he coming upon [him] overcomes him, he takes away his panoply in which he trusted, and he will divide the spoil [he has taken] from him.
23 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters.
24 When the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places seeking rest; and not finding [any] he says, I will return to my house whence I came out.
25 And having come, he finds it swept and adorned.
26 Then he goes and takes seven other spirits worse than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.
27 And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman, lifting up her voice out of the crowd, said to him, Blessed is the womb that has borne thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
28 But *he* said, Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep [it].
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)