Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the director, Jeduthun.[a] One of Asaph’s songs.
77 I cry out to God for help.
I cry out to you, God; listen to me!
2 My Lord, in my time of trouble I came to you.
I reached out for you all night long.
My soul refused to be comforted.
11 Lord, I remember what you have done.
I remember the amazing things you did long ago.
12 I think about those things.
I think about them all the time.
13 God, all that you do is holy.
No god is as great as you are.
14 You are the God who does amazing things.
You showed the nations your great power.
15 By your power you saved your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 God, the water saw you and became afraid.
The deep water shook with fear.
17 The thick clouds dropped their water.
Thunder roared in the sky above.
Your arrows of lightning flashed through the clouds.
18 There were loud claps of thunder.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth shook and trembled.
19 You walked through the water and crossed the deep sea,
but you left no footprints.
20 You led your people like sheep,
using Moses and Aaron to guide them.
The Battle at Ramoth Gilead
29 King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to fight the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead. 30 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Disguise yourself when you go into battle, but wear your own clothes. And I will disguise myself.” The king of Israel went into battle dressed like an ordinary soldier.
31 The king of Aram had 32 chariot commanders. He gave them this command, “Don’t go after anyone except the king of Israel, no matter how important they are.” 32 When the commanders saw King Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel, and so they went to kill him. Jehoshaphat started shouting. 33 When the commanders saw that he was not King Ahab, they stopped chasing him.
34 Then a soldier in the distance pulled back as far as he could on his bow and shot an arrow into the air. The arrow happened to hit the king of Israel in a small hole where his armor was fastened together. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “I’ve been hit! Turn the chariot around and take me off the battlefield!”
35 The armies continued to fight while King Ahab was propped up in his chariot. He was leaning against the sides of the chariot, looking out toward the Arameans. His blood ran down onto the floor of the chariot. Later in the evening, he died. 36 At sunset all the Israelites cheered when they were told to go home. So they all went back to their hometowns.
37 And that is how King Ahab died. Some men carried his body to Samaria and buried him there. 38 They took his chariot to the large pool in Samaria to clean it. The dogs licked up Ahab’s blood while the prostitutes washed the chariot. This happened just as the Lord said it would.
39 The rest of what King Ahab did during the time he ruled is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel. That book tells about all the cities he built and about all the ivory that he used to decorate his palace. 40 Ahab died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Ahaziah became the next king after him.
Ahaziah, King of Israel
51 Ahaziah was the son of Ahab. He became king of Israel during the 17th year that King Jehoshaphat ruled Judah. Ahaziah ruled in Samaria for two years. 52 He sinned against the Lord just as his parents, Ahab and Jezebel, did. He caused Israel to sin just as Jeroboam son of Nebat did. 53 Ahaziah served the false god Baal and worshiped him, just as his father did before him. He did all the things that his father did to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry.
5 Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you. 6 But I hope you will see that we have not failed the test. 7 We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Our concern here is not for people to see that we have passed the test in our work with you. Our main concern is that you do what is right, even if it looks as if we have failed the test. 8 We cannot do anything that is against the truth but only what promotes the truth. 9 We are happy to be weak if you are strong. And this is what we pray—that your lives will be made completely right again. 10 I’m writing this before I come so that when I am there I will not have to use my authority to punish you. The Lord gave me that authority to make you stronger, not to destroy you.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International