Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

To the Overcomer upon, Do not destroy, Michtam of David, when he fled from the presence of Saul in the cave.

¹ ¶ Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusts in thee; and in the shadow of thy wings I will make my refuge until these calamities are overpast.

² I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performs all things for me.

³ He shall send from the heavens and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

⁴ My soul is among lions, and I lie even among those that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.

⁵ Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

⁶ They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me, into the midst of which they are fallen themselves. Selah.

⁷ ¶ My heart is ready, O God, my heart is willing; I will sing and give praise.

⁸ Awake, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will arise early.

⁹ I will praise thee, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing unto thee among the nations.

¹⁰ For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

¹¹ Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hastened and lighted off the ass and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground

²⁴ and fell at his feet and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be, and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy audience; and hear the words of thy handmaid.

²⁵ Let not my lord, I pray thee, take to heart this man of Belial, even Nabal, for as his name is, so is he; Nabal {Heb. fool} is his name, and folly is with him; but I, thy handmaid, did not see the servants of my lord whom thou didst send.

²⁶ Now, therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as thy soul lives, seeing the LORD has withheld thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies and those that seek evil to my lord be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this blessing which thy handmaid has brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the servants that follow my lord.

²⁸ I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid, for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹ Yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God, and he shall hurl forth the souls of thine enemies as out of the middle of a sling.

³⁰ And it shall come to pass when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel,

³¹ that this shall be no stumblingblock unto thee nor grief of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless or that my lord has avenged himself; but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

³² ¶ Then David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel who sent thee this day to meet me;

³³ and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand.

³⁴ For in very deed as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that piss against the wall.

³⁵ So David received of her hand that which she had brought him and said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice and have accepted thy person.

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently until it receives the early and latter rain.

⁸ Be ye also patient and confirm your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draws near.

⁹ Complain not one against another, brethren, that ye not be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.

¹⁰ Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

¹¹ Behold, we count blessed those who endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very merciful, and full of compassion.

¹² ¶ But above all things, my brethren, do not swear by heaven or by the earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no; lest ye fall into condemnation.