Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Yahweh Is My Rock and My Fortress
For the choir director. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, [a]who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
18 He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, (A)my strength.”
2 Yahweh is (B)my [b]rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon Yahweh, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)cords of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of vileness [c]terrified me.
5 The (L)cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon Yahweh,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)out of His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
43 You have delivered me from the (A)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as (B)head of the nations;
A (C)people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners [a](D)cower before me.
45 Foreigners (E)fade away,
And (F)come trembling out of their [b]fortresses.
46 Yahweh (G)lives, and blessed be (H)my rock;
And let (I)the God of my salvation be lifted high,
47 The God who (J)executes vengeance for me,
And (K)subdues peoples under me.
48 Who (L)delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You (M)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the (N)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (O)give thanks to You among the nations, O Yahweh,
And I will (P)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [c](Q)salvation to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to (R)His anointed,
To David and (S)his seed forever.
The Death of Saul and His Sons
31 (A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain (B)on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down (C)Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 (D)And the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers [a]hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 (E)Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, lest (F)these uncircumcised come and pierce me through and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was not willing, for he was greatly afraid. (G)So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 Then his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, so he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
7 Then the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 Now it happened on the [b]next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 Then they cut off his head and stripped off his weapons and sent them all around the land of the Philistines, (H)to proclaim the good news (I)to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 And they placed his weapons in the [c]house of (J)Ashtaroth and (K)fastened his body to the wall of (L)Beth-shan. 11 Then (M)the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard [d]what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (N)so all the valiant men arose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and (O)burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and (P)buried them under (Q)the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and (R)fasted seven days.
God Loves a Cheerful Giver
9 For (A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about this (B)ministry to the [a]saints; 2 for I know your readiness, of which I (C)boast about you to the (D)Macedonians, that (E)Achaia has been prepared since (F)last year, and your zeal stirred up most of them. 3 But I have sent the brothers, in order that our (G)boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, (H)as I was saying, you may be prepared; 4 lest if any (I)Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—be put to shame in this certainty of ours. 5 So I regarded it necessary to encourage the (J)brothers that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised (K)blessing, so that the same would be ready as a (L)blessing and not as a [b](M)begrudging obligation.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.