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
10 (A)Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and [a](B)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 And the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers [b]hit him; and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was not willing, for he was greatly afraid. (C)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. 6 (D)Thus Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.
7 Then all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 Now it happened on the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 (E)So they stripped him and took his head and his weapons and sent them all around the land of the Philistines, to proclaim the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 And they placed his weapons in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
Jabesh-gilead Buries Saul
11 Then all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (F)so all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
13 (G)Thus Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he committed against Yahweh, because of the word of Yahweh which he did not keep; and also (H)because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14 and did not inquire of Yahweh. Therefore He put him to death and (I)turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
I Believe, Help My Unbelief
14 (A)And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were (B)amazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him. 16 And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and [a]whenever it seizes him, it [b]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and [c]becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 And they brought [d]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around, foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ (C)All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 Now when Jesus saw that (D)a crowd was [e]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, [f]I command you, come out of him and do not enter him [g]again.” 26 And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. 28 And when He came (E)into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”
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