Book of Common Prayer

Celebration of a Royal Wedding

For the music director; according to The Lilies. Of the sons of Korah.

A maskil. A song of love.^[a]

God Is King over All the Earth

For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.^[a]

The Greatness of God in Zion

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.^[e]

Samuel’s Death

25 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his house at Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

David and Abigail

² Now there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich and owned^[a] three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. Now^[b] the shearing of his sheep was taking place in Carmel. ³ The name of the man was Nabal,^[c] and the name of his wife was Abigail.^[d] Now the woman was wise and beautiful, but the man was stubborn and mean,^[e] and he was as his heart.^{[f] 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; you will greet him in my name.^{[g] 6} Then you must say to him, ‘Long life to you, and may it go well with you, with your house, and with all that is yours.^{[h] 7} Now I have heard that you have shearers.^[i] Now while your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and nothing of theirs was missing, all the days they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your servants^[j] and they will tell you! Let the young men^[k] find favor in your eyes because we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand^[l] for your servants and for your son David.”

⁹ So David’s young men came and they spoke all these words to Nabal 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? Today, there are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters. ¹¹ Should I take my bread and my water and my meat which I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from? ¹² So David’s young men turned on their way and returned and came and told him according to all these words. ¹³ Then David said to his men, “Each man strap on his sword!” So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

¹⁴ But a young man of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the desert to greet^[m] our master, but he addressed them angrily, ¹⁵ even though the men were very good to us; we were not mistreated and did not miss anything all the days we went about with them while we were^[n] in the field. ¹⁶ They were a wall to us both night and day, all the days we were^[o] with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷ And so then, know and consider^[p] what you should do, for evil has been decided against our master and against all his household, and he is such a wicked man,^[q] nobody can reason with him!”^[r]

¹⁸ Then Abigail quickly took^[s] two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes, and she put them on the donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she said to her servants, “Go ahead before me; look, I am coming after you,” but she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ And then,^[t] as she was riding on the donkey and was going down the ravine of the mountain, David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain^[u] I guarded all that this fellow had in the desert. And nothing was missed of all that was his, but he returned evil against me in place of good! ²² May God severely punish the enemies of David^[v] and again do thus if I leave behind anything that is his^[w] until the morning, not even one male!”^[x]

Preaching in Iconium

14 Now it happened that in Iconium they entered together^[a] into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greeks believed. ² But the Jews who were disobedient stirred up and poisoned the minds^[b] of the Gentiles against the brothers. ³ So they stayed there^[c] for a considerable time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be performed through their hands. ⁴ But the population of the city was divided, and some^[d] were with the Jews and some^[e] with the apostles. ⁵ So when an inclination took place on the part of both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their rulers, to mistreat them^[f] and to stone them, ⁶ they became aware of it^[g] and^[h] fled to the Lycaonian cities—Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region. ⁷ And there they were continuing to proclaim the good news.

Mistaken for Gods in Lystra

⁸ And in Lystra a certain man was sitting powerless in his feet, lame from birth,^[i] who had never walked. ⁹ This man listened while^[j] Paul was speaking. Paul,^[k] looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And he leaped up and began walking.^{[l] 11} And when^[m] the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices in the Lycaonian language, saying, “The gods have become like men and^[n] have come down to us!” ¹² And they began calling^[o] Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the principal speaker.^{[p] 13} And the priest of the temple^[q] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates and^[r] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when^[s] the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it,^[t] they tore their clothing and^[u] rushed out into the crowd, shouting ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, proclaiming the good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things that are in them— ¹⁶ who in generations that are past permitted all the nations^[v] to go their own ways. ¹⁷ And yet he did not leave himself without witness by^[w] doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you^[x] with food and your hearts with gladness.” ¹⁸ And although^[y] they said these things, only with difficulty did they dissuade the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

The Parable of the Lamp

²¹ And he said to them, “Surely a lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a bushel basket or under a bed, is it?^[a] Is it not^[b] so that it may be put on a lampstand? ²² For nothing is secret except so that it may be revealed, nor has become hidden except so that it will come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” ²⁴ And he said to them, “Take care what you hear! With the measure by which you measure out, it will be measured out to you, and will be added to you. ²⁵ For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Seed that Grows by Itself

²⁶ And he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: like a man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ And he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.^{[c] 28} By itself the soil produces a crop: first the grass, then the head of grain, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the crop permits, he sends in the sickle right away, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰ And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable can we present it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, although it^[d] is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground, ³² but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade.” ³³ And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it.^{[e] 34} And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.