Book of Common Prayer

David wrote this song to ask God not to forget him.

Lord, please remember me^[a]

DALETH

HE

WAW

Jonathan helps David

20 Then David ran away from Naioth at Ramah. He went to Jonathan and he asked him, ‘What bad things have I done? What have I done to hurt your father? Why is he trying to kill me?’

² Jonathan replied, ‘No. You will not die. My father tells me everything that he does, even the little things. So it is not true that he is trying to kill you. He would not hide this from me.’

³ But David answered, ‘Your father knows that you like me very much. He has decided that he will not tell you. He does not want to make you upset. I promise that my words are true, as truly as the Lord lives and you live. I know that I am very near to death.’

⁴ Jonathan said to David, ‘I will do anything that you want me to do for you.’

⁵ David said to Jonathan, ‘Tomorrow we have a special meal because of the new moon.^[a] I should go and eat this meal with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field. I will stay there until the third evening. ⁶ Your father may see that I am not at the meal. If he does, say to him, “David asked me to let him go to his home in Bethlehem. His family offer a sacrifice there at this time every year.” ⁷ Your father may say, “That is good.” If he says that, I will know that I am safe. But if he becomes very angry, we will know that he has decided to hurt me. ⁸ Jonathan, please show that you love me. The Lord knows about the promise that you made, to be my friend. If I am guilty of a sin, please kill me yourself. Do not let your father kill me.’

⁹ Jonathan said, ‘No, that will never happen! If I ever find out that my father wants to kill you, I will surely tell you.’

¹⁰ David asked Jonathan, ‘If your father answers you in an angry way, who will tell me?’ ¹¹ Jonathan said, ‘Come with me into the field.’ So they went there together.

¹² Then Jonathan said to David, ‘I make this promise to you, and the Lord, Israel's God, knows that it is true. Tomorrow or the next day I will find out what my father is thinking about you. If he is feeling friendly to you, I will send someone to tell you. ¹³ But if my father wants to hurt you, I will tell you clearly. I ask the Lord to punish me, if I do not tell you. I will help you to escape and be safe. I pray that the Lord will bless you, as he blessed my father. ¹⁴ While I am still alive, please be kind to me. Continue to love me, as the Lord loves his people. And if I die, ¹⁵ continue to be kind to my family. Even when the Lord removes every one of your enemies from the earth, do not forget about my family.’

¹⁶ So Jonathan made an agreement with David's family. He said, ‘I am asking the Lord to destroy all David's enemies.’ ¹⁷ Jonathan asked David to promise again that they would be friends. That was because Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own life.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Tomorrow we will have the special meal because of the new moon. Nobody will be sitting in your seat, so people will know that you are not there. ¹⁹ The day after tomorrow, go back to the place where you hid the other time. Wait beside the rock called Ezel. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows towards the rock to see where they go. ²¹ Then I will send a boy to find the arrows. If you are not in danger I will say to the boy, “The arrows are on this side of you. Come and bring them here.” That will mean that you are safe. You can then come out from the place where you are hiding. As surely as the Lord lives, I promise that you will not be in trouble. ²² But if I say to the boy, “Look, the arrows are beyond you,” you must run away. It will mean that the Lord has sent you away. ²³ But never forget the promise that we have made to each other. The Lord will make sure that we are faithful to each other.’

¹⁸ When morning arrived, there was a lot of trouble at the prison. The soldiers did not understand what had happened to Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod knew about it, he said to the soldiers, ‘Go and look for Peter!’ But they could not find him anywhere. Herod then asked the soldiers who guarded the prison some questions. They could not explain what had happened. So Herod commanded other soldiers to cut off their heads.

After this happened, Herod left Judea. He went to Caesarea and he stayed there for some time.

King Herod dies

²⁰ At that time, King Herod was angry with the people who lived in Tyre and Sidon. A group of men from these cities went together to speak to Herod about the problem. A man called Blastus was an important servant in King Herod's house. The group of men said to Blastus, ‘Please help us when we speak to King Herod.’ Then they went and they said to Herod, ‘Please stop being angry with our people. We want to be friends again.’ They said this because they needed to buy food in King Herod's country.^[a]

²¹ Herod decided on which day he would meet with them. He put on his beautiful clothes and he sat in his special seat as king. Then he spoke his message to all the people. ²² When he spoke, the people shouted, ‘This is not a man who is speaking to us. This is the voice of a god!’

²³ Herod let the people praise him, instead of God. So, immediately, an angel of the Lord God caused him to become very ill. Worms ate his body and later he died.

Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch

²⁴ Everywhere that the believers went, they told people God's message. People heard the message in more and more places and many of them believed in Jesus.

²⁵ Barnabas and Saul had gone to Jerusalem to help the believers there. They finished their work and then they returned to Antioch. They took John Mark with them.

Jesus asks Levi to be his disciple

¹³ Jesus went to the shore of Lake Galilee again. A large crowd came to him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ While Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Levi. Levi was the son of Alphaeus. His job was to take taxes from people.^[a] He was sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, ‘Come with me and be my disciple.’ Levi stood up and he went with Jesus.

¹⁵ Then Jesus went to eat a meal at Levi's house. Many people followed Jesus and they ate there with him and with his disciples. Many of these were bad people and also men who took taxes. ¹⁶ Some teachers of God's Law who were Pharisees saw what was happening.^[b] They said to Jesus' disciples, ‘He is eating with bad people and men who take taxes. That is not right.’

¹⁷ Jesus heard what these people were saying. He said to them, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor. It is people who are ill that need a doctor. Some people think that they always obey God. I did not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help.’

¹⁸ At this time, the disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and they asked him this question: ‘The disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees often fast for a time. So why do your disciples never do that?’^[c]

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, ‘When a man marries, his friends cannot refuse to eat. They cannot fast while he is with them. ²⁰ But there will be a time when people will take the man away from his friends. At that time his friends will fast.’^[d]

²¹ Then Jesus said, ‘Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to mend an old coat. If he does, the new cloth will cause the old cloth to tear again. It will make a bigger hole than before. ²² And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will spoil. Instead, you must put new wine into new wineskins.’^[e]