Book of Common Prayer

To the Director: An instruction^[a] by the Sons of Korah. A love song to the tune of^[b] “Lilies”.

A Royal Wedding Song

To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.

The Ruler over the Nations

A song: Lyrics^[b] by the Sons of Korah.

Zion, City of God

The Death of Samuel

25 Samuel died and all Israel assembled to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah.

David, Nabal, and Abigail

David got up and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.^{[a] 2} Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel of Judah,^[b] and the man was very rich. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ The man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, while the man was harsh and wicked in his dealings. He was a descendant of Caleb.

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ David sent ten young men, saying to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, find Nabal, and greet him in my name. ⁶ Then say, ‘May you live long. Peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that you have. ⁷ Now, I’ve heard that the sheep shearers are with you. Now, your shepherds have been with us. We didn’t harm them, and they didn’t miss anything all the time they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men and they’ll tell you. Therefore let my^[c] young men find favor with you since we came on a special^[d] day. Please give whatever you have available to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ David’s young men came to Nabal and told him all this^[e] in David’s name, and then they waited. ¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants: “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters. ¹¹ Should I take my food, my water, and my meat that I’ve slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men who came from who knows where?”^[f]

¹² David’s men turned and went on^[g] their way. They came back and told David^[h] everything. ¹³ David told his men, “Put on your swords.” They put on their swords, and David put on his sword. Then about 400 men followed David, while 200 stayed with the supplies.

Abigail Intercedes with David

¹⁴ Now, one of the young men told Nabal’s wife Abigail: “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet^[i] our lord, but he screamed insults at them. ¹⁵ The men were very good to us. They didn’t harm us, and we didn’t miss anything all the time we moved around with them when we were in the field. ¹⁶ They were a wall around us both day and night, all the time we were with them taking care of the sheep. ¹⁷ Now, be aware of this^[j] and consider what you should do. Calamity is being planned against our master and against his entire household. He’s such a worthless person^[k] that no one can talk to him.”

¹⁸ Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five measures of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ She told her young men, “Go ahead of me, I’ll be coming right behind you.” But she said nothing to her husband Nabal. ²⁰ She was riding on the donkey and as she went down a protected part^[l] of the mountain, David was there with his men, coming down to meet her, and she went toward them.

²¹ Now David had said, “Surely it was for nothing that I protected everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was missing of all that belonged to him. But he has repaid me^[m] with evil for good! ²² May the Lord do this to the enemies of David^[n]—and more also—if by the morning I’ve left alive a single male^[o] of all those who belong to him.”

Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

14 In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas^[a] went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. ² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³ They stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak boldly for the Lord, who kept affirming his word of grace and granting signs and wonders to be done by them. ⁴ But the people of the city were divided. Some were with the Jews, while others were with the apostles.

⁵ Now when an attempt was made by both gentiles and Jews, along with their authorities, to mistreat and stone them, ⁶ Paul and Barnabas^[b] found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory. ⁷ There they kept talking about the good news.

Paul and Barnabas in Lystra

⁸ Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn’t use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul^[c] watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man^[d] jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” ¹² They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. ¹³ The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵ “Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you’ll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.^{[e] 16} In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, ¹⁷ yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you^[f] fruitful seasons, and to fill you with food and your hearts with joy.” ¹⁸ Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas^[g] could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

A Light under a Basket^(A)

²¹ Then Jesus^[a] told them, “A lamp isn’t brought indoors to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? It’s to be put on a lamp stand, isn’t it? ²² Nothing is hidden except for the purpose of having it revealed, and nothing is secret except for the purpose of having it come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!

²⁴ He went on to say to them, “Pay attention to what you’re hearing! You will be evaluated by the same standard with which you do your evaluating, and still more will be given to you, ²⁵ because whoever has something, will have more given to him. But whoever has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable about a Growing Seed

²⁶ He was also saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow, although he doesn’t know how ²⁸ the ground produces grain by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, he immediately starts cutting with his sickle because the harvest time has come.”

The Parable about a Mustard Seed^(B)

³⁰ He was also saying, “How can we show what the kingdom of God is like, or what parable can we use to describe it? ³¹ It’s like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it’s the smallest of^[b] all the seeds on earth, ³² when it’s planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade.”

Why Jesus Used Parables^(C)

³³ With many other parables like these, Jesus^[c] kept speaking his message to them according to their ability to understand. ³⁴ He did not tell them anything without using^[d] a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.