Book of Common Prayer

A Song for the King’s Wedding

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.

God, the King of the World

For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

Jerusalem, the City of God

A psalm of the sons of Korah.

Nabal Insults David

25 Now Samuel died, and all the Israelites met and had a time of sadness for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah.

David moved to the Desert of Maon.^{[a] 2} A man in Maon who had land at Carmel was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was cutting the wool off his sheep at Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal, and he was a descendant of Caleb. His wife was named Abigail. She was wise and beautiful, but Nabal was cruel and mean.

⁴ While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men and told them, “Go to Nabal at Carmel, and greet him for me. ⁶ Say to Nabal, ‘May you and your family and all who belong to you have good health! ⁷ I have heard that you are cutting the wool from your sheep. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harm them. All the time your shepherds were at Carmel, we stole nothing from them. ⁸ Ask your servants, and they will tell you. We come at a happy time, so be kind to my young men. Please give anything you can find for them and for your son David.’”

⁹ When David’s men arrived, they gave the message to Nabal, but Nabal insulted them. ¹⁰ He answered them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many slaves are running away from their masters today! ¹¹ I have bread and water, and I have meat that I killed for my servants who cut the wool. But I won’t give it to men I don’t know.”

¹² David’s men went back and told him all Nabal had said. ¹³ Then David said to them, “Put on your swords!” So they put on their swords, and David put on his also. About four hundred men went with David, but two hundred men stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ One of Nabal’s servants said to Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, but Nabal insulted them. ¹⁵ These men were very good to us. They did not harm us. They stole nothing from us during all the time we were out in the field with them. ¹⁶ Night and day they protected us. They were like a wall around us while we were with them caring for the sheep. ¹⁷ Now think about it, and decide what you can do. Terrible trouble is coming to our master and all his family. Nabal is such a wicked man that no one can even talk to him.”

¹⁸ Abigail hurried. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, five cooked sheep, a bushel of cooked grain, a hundred cakes of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs and put all these on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she told her servants, “Go on. I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband.

²⁰ Abigail rode her donkey and came down toward the mountain hideout. There she met David and his men coming down toward her.

²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless! I watched over Nabal’s property in the desert. I made sure none of his sheep was missing. I did good to him, but he has paid me back with evil. ²² May God punish my enemies even more. I will not leave one of Nabal’s men alive until morning.”

Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

14 In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual to the synagogue. They spoke so well that a great many Jews and Greeks believed. ² But some people who did not believe excited the others and turned them against the believers. ³ Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium a long time and spoke bravely for the Lord. He showed that their message about his grace was true by giving them the power to work miracles and signs. ⁴ But the city was divided. Some of the people agreed with the Jews, and others believed the apostles.

⁵ Some who were not Jews, some Jews, and some of their rulers wanted to mistreat Paul and Barnabas and to stone them to death. ⁶ When Paul and Barnabas learned about this, they ran away to Lystra and Derbe, cities in Lycaonia, and to the areas around those cities. ⁷ They announced the Good News there, too.

Paul in Lystra and Derbe

⁸ In Lystra there sat a man who had been born crippled; he had never walked. ⁹ As this man was listening to Paul speak, Paul looked straight at him and saw that he believed God could heal him. ¹⁰ So he cried out, “Stand up on your feet!” The man jumped up and began walking around. ¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul did, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like humans and have come down to us!” ¹² Then the people began to call Barnabas “Zeus”^[a] and Paul “Hermes,”^[b] because he was the main speaker. ¹³ The priest in the temple of Zeus, which was near the city, brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. He and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. ¹⁴ But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard about it, they tore their clothes. They ran in among the people, shouting, ¹⁵ “Friends, why are you doing these things? We are only human beings like you. We are bringing you the Good News and are telling you to turn away from these worthless things and turn to the living God. He is the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past, God let all the nations do what they wanted. ¹⁷ Yet he proved he is real by showing kindness, by giving you rain from heaven and crops at the right times, by giving you food and filling your hearts with joy.” ¹⁸ Even with these words, they were barely able to keep the crowd from offering sacrifices to them.

Use What You Have

²¹ Then Jesus said to them, “Do you hide a lamp under a bowl or under a bed? No! You put the lamp on a lampstand. ²² Everything that is hidden will be made clear and every secret thing will be made known. ²³ Let those with ears use them and listen!

²⁴ “Think carefully about what you hear. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you, but God will give you even more. ²⁵ Those who have understanding will be given more. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them.”

Jesus Uses a Story About Seed

²⁶ Then Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who plants seed in the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether the person is asleep or awake, the seed still grows, but the person does not know how it grows. ²⁸ By itself the earth produces grain. First the plant grows, then the head, and then all the grain in the head. ²⁹ When the grain is ready, the farmer cuts it, because this is the harvest time.”

A Story About Mustard Seed

³⁰ Then Jesus said, “How can I show you what the kingdom of God is like? What story can I use to explain it? ³¹ The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the smallest seed you plant in the ground. ³² But when planted, this seed grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants. It produces large branches, and the wild birds can make nests in its shade.”

³³ Jesus used many stories like these to teach the crowd God’s message—as much as they could understand. ³⁴ He always used stories to teach them. But when he and his followers were alone, Jesus explained everything to them.