Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Remembering God’s Help
For the director of music. For Jeduthun [C a Levitical musician; 1 Chr. 16:41–42; 25:1, 6; 2 Chr. 5:12]. A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
77 I cry out to God;
I call to God, and he ·will hear [or heard] me.
2 I ·look [sought] for the Lord on the day of ·trouble [L my distress].
All night long I ·reach out my untiring hands [L flow forth my hand and it does not grow weak],
but I ·cannot [refuse to] be comforted.
11 I remember what the Lord did;
I remember the ·miracles [wonderful acts] you did long ago.
12 I ·think [mused] about all the things you did
and ·consider [meditated on] your deeds.
13 God, your ways are holy.
·No god [L What god…?] is as great as our God.
14 You are the God who does ·miracles [wonders];
you have ·shown [made known to] people your power.
15 By your ·power [L arm] you have ·saved [redeemed] your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. ·
16 God, the waters saw you;
they saw you and ·became afraid [L writhed];
the deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain.
The ·sky [clouds] ·thundered [L gave forth a sound].
Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and ·shook [quaked].
19 You made a way through the sea
and paths through the ·deep [L many] waters,
but your footprints were not ·seen [revealed].
20 You led your people like a flock
by ·using [L the hand of] Moses and Aaron [Ex. 14–15].
29 So Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah ·went to [marched on] Ramoth in Gilead. 30 King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “When I go into battle, I will ·wear other clothes [disguise myself] so no one will recognize me. But you wear your royal clothes.” So Ahab ·wore other clothes [disguised himself] and went into battle [22:15].
31 The king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Don’t fight with anyone—·important or unimportant [L small or great]—except the king of Israel.” 32 When these chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was certainly the king of Israel, so they turned to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat began shouting, 33 they saw he was not King Ahab, and they stopped chasing him.
34 By chance, a soldier shot an arrow and hit Ahab king of Israel ·between the pieces [in a gap/joint] of his armor. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and get me out of the battle, because I am ·hurt [badly wounded]!” 35 The battle ·continued [raged] all day. King Ahab was ·held [propped] up in his chariot and faced the Arameans. His blood from the wound flowed down to the bottom of the chariot. That evening he died. 36 Near sunset a cry went out through the army of Israel: “Each man go back to his own city and land [C an indication of panic and defeat].”
37 In that way King Ahab ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors]. His body was carried to Samaria and buried there. 38 The men cleaned Ahab’s chariot at a pool in Samaria ·where prostitutes bathed [or and the prostitutes bathed in his blood], and the dogs licked his blood from the chariot. These things happened as the ·Lord had said they would [word of the Lord had spoken].
39 Everything else Ahab did ·is [L is it not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 14:19] of the kings of Israel. It tells about the ·palace Ahab built and decorated with ivory [L ivory house] and the cities he built. 40 So Ahab ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors], and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.
Ahaziah King of Israel
51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria during Jehoshaphat’s seventeenth year as king over Judah. Ahaziah ·ruled [reigned] Israel for two years, 52 and he did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. He ·did the same evil as [L walked in the way/path of his] his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and Jeroboam son of Nebat. All these rulers led the people of Israel into more sin. 53 Ahaziah worshiped and served the god Baal, and this ·made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry [provoked/aroused the Lord, the God of Israel to anger], just as his father had done.
5 ·Test [Examine] yourselves to see if you are ·living in [L in] the faith. ·Look closely at [Test; Examine] yourselves. ·You [L Or don’t you…?] know that Jesus Christ is in you—·unless [or if not,] you fail the test. 6 But I hope you will see that we ourselves have not failed the test. 7 We pray to God that you will not do anything ·wrong [evil]. It is not important ·to see [that people see; or for it to appear] that we have passed the test, but it is important that you do what is ·right [good], even if it seems we have failed. 8 [L For] We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 We ·are happy to be [rejoice whenever we are] weak, if you are strong, and we pray that you will become ·complete [mature; or fully equipped/restored]. 10 I am writing this while I am away from you so that when I come I will not have to be ·harsh [severe] in my use of authority. The Lord gave me this authority to build you up, not to tear you down.
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