Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God the Sovereign Savior(A)
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David (B)the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of (C)this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
18 I (D)will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my [a]strength, (E)in whom I will trust;
My shield and the [b]horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, (F)who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 (G)The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of [c]ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;
(A)You have made me the head of the [a]nations;
(B)A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners [b]submit to me.
45 (C)The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
46 The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
(D)And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
(E)You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 (F)Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the [c]Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
Tragic End of Saul and His Sons(A)
10 Now (B)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, [a]Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. 7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to [b]strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10 (C)Then they put his armor in the [c]temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the (D)valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to (E)Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had [d]committed against the Lord, (F)because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because (G)he consulted a medium for guidance. 14 But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and (H)turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
A Boy Is Healed(A)
14 (B)And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
17 Then (C)one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
19 He answered him and said, “O (D)faithless[a] generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I [b]bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And (E)when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, (F)“If[c] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; (G)help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He (H)rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 (I)And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but (J)prayer [d]and fasting.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.