Book of Common Prayer

A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.

To the Chief Musician; set to the [tune of] “Lilies.” A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem. A Song of Love.

God the King of the Earth.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

Samuel’s Death

25 Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

² Now there was a man in Maon whose business and possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel ³ (now the man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was a ^[a]Calebite). ⁴ David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and ^[b]greet him in my name; ⁶ and this is what you shall say, ‘^[c]Have a long life! Peace be to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. ⁷ Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they missing anything all the time they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight [and be well-treated], for we have come on a ^[d]good (festive) day. ^[e]Please, give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited. ¹⁰ But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? ^[f]There are many servants today, each of whom is breaking away from his master. ¹¹ So should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” ¹² So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal]. ¹³ David said to his men, “Each man put on your sword.” So each man put on his sword. David also put on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed back with the provisions and supplies.

¹⁴ But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Listen, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless (greet) our master, and he shouted at them [in contempt]. ¹⁵ But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed or treated badly, nor did we miss anything as long as we were with them, when we were in the fields. ¹⁶ They were a wall [of protection] to us both night and day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep. ¹⁷ Now then, know this and consider what you should do, for evil is [already] planned against our master and against all his household; but he is such a ^[g]worthless and wicked man that one cannot speak [reasonably] to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

¹⁸ Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared [for roasting], five measures of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ She said to her young men (servants), “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by [way of] the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good. ²² May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave [alive] even one ^[h]male of any who belong to him.”

Acceptance and Opposition

14 Now in Iconium Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue together and spoke in such a way [with such power and boldness] that a large number of Jews as well as Greeks believed [and confidently accepted Jesus as Savior]; ² but the unbelieving Jews [who rejected Jesus as Messiah] stirred up and embittered the minds of the Gentiles against the ^[a]believers. ³ So Paul and Barnabas stayed for a long time, speaking boldly and confidently for the Lord, who continued to testify to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders (attesting miracles) be done by them. ⁴ But the people of the city were divided; some were siding with the Jews, and some with the apostles. ⁵ When there was an attempt by both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their rulers, to shamefully mistreat and to stone them, ⁶ they, aware of the situation, escaped to Lystra and Derbe, [taking refuge in the] cities of Lycaonia, and the neighboring region; ⁷ and there they continued to preach the good news.

⁸ Now at Lystra a man sat who was unable to use his feet, for he was crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, and Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ and said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet.” And he jumped up and began to walk. ¹¹ And the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, raised their voices, shouting in the ^[b]Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us ^[c]in human form!” ¹² They began calling Barnabas, Zeus [chief of the Greek gods], and Paul, Hermes [messenger of the Greek gods], since he took the lead in speaking. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they ^[d]tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are only men of the same nature as you, bringing the good news to you, so that you turn from these useless and meaningless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them.^{(A) 16} In generations past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; ¹⁷ yet He did not leave Himself without some witness [as evidence of Himself], in that He kept constantly doing good things and showing you kindness, and giving you rains from heaven and productive seasons, filling your hearts with food and happiness.” ¹⁸ Even saying these words, with difficulty they prevented the people from offering sacrifices to them.

²¹ He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?^{(A) 22} For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].^{(B) 23} If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” ²⁴ Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides. ²⁵ For ^[a]whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”^(C)

Parable of the Seed

²⁶ Then He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who throws seed on the ground; ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up every day, and [in the meantime] the seed sprouts and grows; how [it does this], he does not know. ²⁸ The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head [of grain], then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the crop ripens, he immediately puts in the sickle [to reap], because [the time for] the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰ And He said, “How shall we ^[b]picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?^{(D) 31} It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is ^[c]smaller than all the [other] seeds that are [sown] on the soil, ³² yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to make nests and live under its shade.”^(E)

³³ With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it; ³⁴ and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples.