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Psalm 108

1  My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; ♦︎
   I will sing and give you praise.
2  Awake, my soul; awake, harp and lyre, ♦︎
   that I may awaken the dawn.
3  I will give you thanks, O Lord, among the peoples; ♦︎
   I will sing praise to you among the nations.
4  For your loving-kindness is as high as the heavens ♦︎
   and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens ♦︎
   and your glory over all the earth.
6  That your beloved may be delivered, ♦︎
   save us by your right hand and answer me.
7  God has spoken in his holiness: ♦︎
   ‘I will triumph and divide Shechem
      and share out the valley of Succoth.
8  ‘Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine; ♦︎
   Ephraim is my helmet and Judah my sceptre.
9  ‘Moab shall be my washpot,
      over Edom will I cast my sandal, ♦︎
   across Philistia will I shout in triumph.’
10  Who will lead me into the strong city? ♦︎
   Who will bring me into Edom?
11  Have you not cast us off, O God? ♦︎
   Will you no longer go forth with our troops?
12  O grant us your help against the enemy, ♦︎
   for earthly help is in vain.
13  Through God will we do great acts, ♦︎
   for it is he that shall tread down our enemies.

Samuel as Judge

3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Astartes from among you. Direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ ⁴So Israel put away the Baals and the Astartes, and they served the Lord only.

5 Then Samuel said, ‘Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.’ ⁶So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day, and said, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.

7 When the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸The people of Israel said to Samuel, ‘Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, and pray that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.’ ⁹So Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to the Lord; Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰As Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel; but the Lord thundered with a mighty voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion; and they were routed before Israel. ¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as beyond Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah,^* and named it Ebenezer;^* for he said, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ ¹³So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel; the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

The Thousand Years

20Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. ²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.

4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus^* and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.