Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Lead Me to the Rock

For the choir director. On a stringed instrument. Of David.

David Strikes Down Nations

8 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^[a]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (B)He also struck ^(C)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^(D)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(E)bringing tribute.

³ Then David struck ^(F)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(G)he went to restore his ^[b]power at the ^[c]River. ⁴ And David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^(H)hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for 100 chariots. ⁵ Then ^(I)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 Arameans. ⁶ Then David placed garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and ^(J)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(K)Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the small shields of gold which were ^[d]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[e]Betah and from ^(L)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Then Toi king of ^(M)Hamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ so Toi sent ^[f]Joram his son to King David to ^[g]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down; for Hadadezer ^[h]had been at war with Toi. And in ^[i]Joram’s hand were articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(N)set these apart as holy to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold that he had set apart as holy from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[j]Aram, ^(O)Moab, ^(P)the sons of Ammon, ^(Q)the Philistines, ^(R)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(S)David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 ^[k]Arameans in ^(T)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ Then he placed garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he placed garrisons, and ^(U)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(V)Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went.

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David was doing justice and righteousness for all his people. ^16 (W)Now Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^(X)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^(Y)recorder; ^17 (Z)and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^(AA)priests, and Seraiah was ^(AB)scribe; ^18 (AC)and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ^[l]was over the ^(AD)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were ^[m](AE)priests.

¹⁷ Now from Miletus he sent to ^(A)Ephesus and called to him ^(B)the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they had come to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, ^(C)from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me ^[a]through ^(D)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(E)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and ^[b]from house to house, ²¹ solemnly ^(F)testifying to both Jews and Greeks about ^(G)repentance toward God and ^(H)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And now, behold, bound by the ^[c]Spirit, ^(I)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(J)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(K)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(L)chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(M)I do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, so that I may ^(N)finish my course and ^(O)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(P)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(Q)the grace of God.

²⁵ “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(R)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶ Therefore, I ^[d]testify to you this day that ^(S)I am ^[e]innocent of the blood of all. ²⁷ For I ^(T)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(U)purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(V)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[f]overseers, to shepherd ^(W)the church of God which ^(X)He ^[g]purchased ^[h]with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure ^(Y)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(Z)the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away ^(AA)the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be watchful, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(AB)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(AC)with tears. ³² And now I ^(AD)commend you to God and to ^(AE)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(AF)build you up and to give you ^(AG)the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. ^33 (AH)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(AI)these hands ministered to my own needs and to those ^(AJ)who were with me. ³⁵ In everything I showed you that by laboring in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ And when he had said these things, he ^(AK)knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^[i]they began to weep aloud and ^(AL)falling on Paul’s neck, they were kissing him, ³⁸ being in agony especially over ^(AM)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(AN)accompanying him to the ship.