Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; by David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord when the Lord rescued him from all his enemies, especially from Saul. He said,
18 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my Savior,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the strength of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3 The Lord should be praised.
I called on him, and I was saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death had become tangled around me.
The torrents of destruction had overwhelmed me.
5 The ropes of the grave had surrounded me.
The clutches of death had confronted me.
6 I called on the Lord in my distress.
I cried to my God for help.
He heard my voice from his temple,
and my cry for help reached his ears.
43 You rescued me from my conflicts with the people.
You made me the leader of nations.
A people I did not know will serve me:
44 As soon as they hear of me, they will obey me.
Foreigners will cringe in front of me.
45 Foreigners will lose heart,
and they will tremble when they come out of their fortifications.
46 The Lord lives!
Thanks be to my rock!
May God my Savior be honored.
47 God gives me vengeance!
He brings people under my authority.
48 He saves me from my enemies.
You lift me up above my opponents.
You rescue me from violent people.
49 That is why I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations
and make music to praise your name.
50 He gives great victories to his king.
He shows mercy to his anointed,
to David, and to his descendant [a] forever.
The Death of Saul(A)
10 When the Philistines fought against Israel, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines caught up to Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was wounded by them.
4 Saul told his armorbearer, “Draw your sword! Stab me, or these godless men will come and make fun of me.” But his armorbearer refused because he was terrified. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. 5 When the armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on the sword and died. 6 So Saul, his three sons, and his dynasty died together.
7 When all the people of Israel in the valley saw that ⌞their army⌟ had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities. So the Philistines came to live in these cities.
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons lying on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped him and took his head and his armor. Then they sent men throughout Philistine territory to tell their idols and the people this good news. 10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head to the temple of Dagon.
11 When all the people of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the fighting men came and took away the dead bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried the bones under the oak tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died because of his unfaithfulness to the Lord: He did not obey the Lord’s word. He asked a medium to request information ⌞from a dead person⌟. 14 He didn’t request information from the Lord. So the Lord killed him and turned the kingship over to David, Jesse’s son.
Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Boy(A)
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them. Some experts in Moses’ Teachings were arguing with them. 15 All the people were very surprised to see Jesus and ran to welcome him.
16 Jesus asked the experts in Moses’ Teachings, “What are you arguing about with them?”
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son. He is possessed by a spirit that won’t let him talk. 18 Whenever the spirit brings on a seizure, it throws him to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes exhausted. I asked your disciples to force the spirit out, but they didn’t have the power to do it.”
19 Jesus said to them, “You unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!”
20 They brought the boy to him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into convulsions. He fell on the ground, rolled around, and foamed at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked his father, “How long has he been like this?”
The father replied, “He has been this way since he was a child. 22 The demon has often thrown him into fire or into water to destroy him. If it’s possible for you, put yourself in our place, and help us!”
23 Jesus said to him, “As far as possibilities go, everything is possible for the person who believes.”
24 The child’s father cried out at once, “I believe! Help my lack of faith.”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he gave an order to the evil spirit. He said, “You spirit that won’t let him talk, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The evil spirit screamed, shook the child violently, and came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and everyone said, “He’s dead!”
27 Jesus took his hand and helped him to stand up.
28 When Jesus went into a house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we force the spirit out of the boy?”
29 He told them, “This kind of spirit can be forced out only by prayer.” [a]
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