Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for Victory
118 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 Let the people of Israel say,
“His love continues forever.”
14 The Lord gives me strength and makes me sing.
He has saved me.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
come from the tents of those who do right:
“The Lord has done powerful things.”
16 The power of the Lord has won the victory.
With his power the Lord has done mighty things.
17 I will not die, but live.
And I will tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has taught me a hard lesson.
But he did not let me die.
19 Open for me the Temple gates.
Then I will come in and thank the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate.
Only those who are good may enter it.
21 Lord, I thank you for answering me.
You have saved me.
22 The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone.
23 The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad today!
17 But Sisera himself ran away. He came to the tent where Jael lived. She was the wife of Heber, one of the Kenite family groups. Heber’s family was at peace with Jabin king of Hazor. 18 Jael went out to meet Sisera. She said to him, “Come into my tent, master! Come in. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera went into Jael’s tent, and she covered him with a rug.
19 Sisera said to Jael, “I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink.” So she opened a leather bag in which she kept milk and gave him a drink. Then she covered him up.
20 Then Sisera said to Jael, “Go stand at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”
21 But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and a hammer. She quietly went to Sisera. Since he was very tired, he was sleeping. She hammered the tent peg through the side of Sisera’s head and into the ground! And so Sisera died.
22 Then Barak came by Jael’s tent, chasing Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, “Come. I will show you the man you are looking for.” So Barak entered her tent. There Sisera lay dead, with the tent peg in his head.
23 On that day God defeated Jabin king of Canaan in the sight of Israel.
24 “May Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
be blessed above all women who live in tents.
25 Sisera asked for water,
but Jael gave him milk.
In a bowl fit for a ruler,
she brought him cream.
26 Jael reached out and took the tent peg.
Her right hand reached for the workman’s hammer.
And she hit Sisera! She smashed his head!
She crushed and pierced the side of his head!
27 At Jael’s feet he sank.
He fell, and he lay there.
At her feet he sank. He fell.
Where Sisera sank, there he fell, dead!
28 “Sisera’s mother looked out through the window.
She looked through the curtains.
She asked, ‘Why is Sisera’s chariot so late in coming?
Why are sounds of his chariots’ horses delayed?’
29 The wisest of her servant ladies answer her.
And Sisera’s mother says to herself,
30 ‘Surely they are taking the possessions of the people they defeated!
Surely they are dividing those things among themselves!
A girl or two is being given to each soldier.
Maybe Sisera is taking pieces of dyed cloth.
Maybe they are even taking
pieces of dyed, embroidered cloth for the necks of the victors!’
31 “Let all your enemies die this way, Lord!
But let all the people who love you
be powerful like the rising sun!”
So there was peace in the land for 40 years.
The Woman and the Dragon
12 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: There was a woman who was clothed with the sun. The moon was under her feet. She had a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 The woman was pregnant. She cried out with pain because she was about to give birth. 3 Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon. He had seven heads with seven crowns on each head. He also had ten horns. 4 The dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to a baby. He wanted to eat the woman’s baby as soon as it was born. 5 The woman gave birth to a son. He will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. But her child was taken up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman ran away into the desert to a place God prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then there was a war in heaven. Michael[a] and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough. He and his angels lost their place in heaven. 9 He was thrown down out of heaven. (The giant dragon is that old snake called the devil or Satan. He leads the whole world the wrong way.) The dragon with his angels was thrown down to the earth.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have now come.
They have come because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out.
He accused our brothers day and night before our God.
11 And our brothers defeated him
by the blood of the Lamb’s death
and by the truth they preached.
They did not love their lives so much
that they were afraid of death.
12 So be happy, you heavens
and all who live there!
But it will be terrible for the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you!
He is filled with anger.
He knows that he does not have much time.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.