Book of Common Prayer

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

For the director of music. To be played on stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the men from Ziph had gone to Saul. They had said, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”

For the director of music. A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him. Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Saul Takes His Own Life

31 The Philistines fought against the Israelites. The Israelites ran away from them. But many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines kept chasing Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³ The fighting was heavy around Saul. Men who were armed with bows and arrows caught up with him. They shot their arrows at him and wounded him badly.

⁴ Saul spoke to the man carrying his armor. He said, “Pull out your sword. Stick it through me. If you don’t, these fellows who aren’t circumcised will come. They’ll stick their swords through me and hurt me badly.”

But the man was terrified. He wouldn’t do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ The man saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died with him. ⁶ Saul and his three sons died together that same day. The man who carried his armor also died with them that day. So did all of Saul’s men.

⁷ The Israelites who lived along the valley saw that their army had run away. So did those who lived across the Jordan River. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and made their homes in them.

⁸ The day after the Philistines had won the battle, they came to take what they wanted from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they cut off Saul’s head. They took his armor from his body. Then they sent messengers through the whole land of the Philistines. They announced the news in the temple where they had set up statues of their gods. They also announced it among their people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s armor in the temple where they had set up statues of female gods that were named Ashtoreth. They hung his body up on the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹ The people of Jabesh Gilead heard about what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹² So all their brave men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan. They brought them to Jabesh. There they burned them. ¹³ Then they got the bones of Saul and his sons and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh. They didn’t eat anything for seven days.

¹² Everyone became quiet as they listened to Barnabas and Paul. They were telling about the signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon Peter has explained to us what God has now done. He has chosen some of the Gentiles to be among his very own people. ¹⁵ The prophets’ words agree with that. They say,

¹⁹ “Now here is my decision. We should not make it hard for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Here is what we should write to them. They must not eat food that has been made impure by being offered to statues of gods. They must not commit sexual sins. They must not eat the meat of animals that have been choked to death. And they must not drink blood. ²¹ These laws of Moses have been preached in every city from the earliest times. They are read out loud in the synagogues every Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Dead Girl and a Suffering Woman

²¹ Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. It landed at the other side. There a large crowd gathered around him. ²² Then a man named Jairus came. He was a synagogue leader. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He begged Jesus, “Please come. My little daughter is dying. Place your hands on her to heal her. Then she will live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large group of people followed. They crowded around him. ²⁵ A woman was there who had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal, even though she had gone to many doctors. She had spent all the money she had. But she was getting worse, not better. ²⁷ Then she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. ²⁸ She thought, “I just need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” ²⁹ Right away her bleeding stopped. She felt in her body that her suffering was over.

³⁰ At once Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd. He asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people,” his disciples answered. “They are crowding against you. And you still ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around. He wanted to see who had touched him. ³³ Then the woman came and fell at his feet. She knew what had happened to her. She was shaking with fear. But she told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. He was the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Jesus heard what they were saying. He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”

³⁷ He let only Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, follow him. ³⁸ They came to the home of the synagogue leader. There Jesus saw a lot of confusion. People were crying and sobbing loudly. ³⁹ He went inside. Then he said to them, “Why all this confusion and sobbing? The child is not dead. She is only sleeping.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

He made them all go outside. He took only the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him. And he went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand. Then he said to her, “Talitha koum!” This means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ⁴² The girl was 12 years old. Right away she stood up and began to walk around. They were totally amazed at this. ⁴³ Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know what had happened. And he told them to give her something to eat.