Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader, Jeduthun.
A prayer in times of trouble[a]
77 I will call out to God for help.
I will call aloud to God,
and he will listen to me.
2 When trouble came to me,
I looked for the Lord to help me.
All through the night,
I lifted my hands to him while I prayed.
But I did not feel peace in myself.
11 I will remember the things that the Lord has done.
Yes, I will remember the miracles that you did long ago.
12 I will think about everything that you have done.
I will think carefully about all those great things.’
13 God, your ways are holy.
There is no god as great as our God.
14 You are the God who does miracles.
You show the nations
that you are very powerful.
15 You used your power to rescue your people.
Yes, you saved the descendants
of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah.
16 The waters of the sea saw you, God.
When they saw you,
they shook with fear!
Even the deepest seas were afraid.
17 Rain poured down from the clouds.
The noise of thunder was in the skies.
Your arrows of lightning
shot everywhere.
18 The sound of your thunder was in the storm.
Your lightning made all the world bright.
The earth shook.
19 You went through the sea.
Your path went through the deep water,
but nobody saw where your feet had gone.
20 You led your people,
as a shepherd leads his sheep.
Moses and Aaron did that for you.
King Ahab dies in battle
29 So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack Ramoth Gilead. 30 King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, ‘When we go into the battle, I will wear ordinary clothes. People will not recognize me as the king. But you should wear your royal clothes.’ So the king of Israel went into the battle as if he was an ordinary soldier.
31 The king of Syria had said to his 32 chariot officers, ‘Only fight the king of Israel. Do not fight against anyone else, whoever they are.’[a] 32 The chariot officers saw King Jehoshaphat in his royal clothes. They thought, ‘Surely that man is the king of Israel.’ So they turned towards him to attack him. When King Jehoshaphat saw them, he shouted out. 33 Then the chariot officers realized that he was not the king of Israel. So they did not chase him any more.
34 Then a Syrian soldier shot an arrow into the air. He did not try to shoot at anyone, but the arrow hit the king of Israel. The arrow went through a space in the king's armour. The king commanded the man who drove his chariot, ‘Turn the chariot around. Take me away from the battle. An arrow has hit me.’
35 The soldiers fought the battle all day. While they were fighting, King Ahab sat in his chariot where he could see the Syrian soldiers. His blood poured out and it covered the floor of the chariot. When evening came, Ahab died. 36 At sunset, the Israelite soldiers shouted to each other, ‘Leave the battle! Every man should return home to the city where he lives.’
37 So the king of Israel died. They took him to Samaria. They buried him there. 38 They washed his blood from the chariot at the pool of water in Samaria. It was the place where the prostitutes washed themselves. The dogs drank Ahab's blood there. The Lord had said that this would happen.[b]
39 The other things that happened while Ahab was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the great things that he did. It also tells about the beautiful palace and the cities that he built.
40 Ahab died and they buried him beside his ancestors. His son Ahaziah became king after him.
King Ahaziah of Israel
51 When Jehoshaphat had ruled Judah for 17 years, Ahab's son Ahaziah became the king of Israel in Samaria. Ahaziah ruled Israel as king for two years. 52 He did things that the Lord said were evil. He lived in the way that his father and mother had lived. He caused the Israelites to do bad things, as Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. 53 Ahaziah served Baal as his god and he worshipped him. He made the Lord, Israel's God, very angry, as his father had also done.[a]
5 Think carefully about how you are living. Are you really believing the message about Christ? I hope you know that Jesus Christ is in you. You ought to know that, unless you have completely failed. 6 I hope that you will know that we ourselves have not failed. We do belong to Christ, as you do.
7 Now we pray to God that you will not do any wrong things. We do not pray this to show that God has accepted us as good. We pray like that because we want you to do what is right. We want that, even if we ourselves seem to have failed. 8 We can only work to show what is true. We cannot do anything against what is true. 9 We are happy when we seem to be weak, if you become strong as a result. We pray that you will become completely as you should be.
10 That is why I am writing these things to you now, while I am away from you. Then, when I arrive, I will not need to be angry with you. I will not have to use my authority to punish you. The Lord gave that authority to me to help you to become stronger as believers. He did not give it to me so that I could destroy you.
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