Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Help

57 Show me loving-kindness, O God, show me loving-kindness. For my soul goes to You to be safe. And I will be safe in the shadow of Your wings until the trouble has passed. ² I will cry to God Most High, to God Who finishes all things for me. ³ He will send from heaven and save me. He will put to shame him who is breaking me under his feet. God will send His loving-kindness and His truth.

⁴ My soul is among lions. I must lie among the sons of men who breathe fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongues are a sharp sword. ⁵ Be lifted up above the heavens, O God. Let Your shining-greatness be above all the earth. ⁶ They have set a net for my steps. My soul is brought down. They dug a deep hole in front of me. But they themselves have fallen into it.

⁷ My heart will not be moved, O God. My heart cannot be moved. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! ⁸ Awake, my shining-greatness. Awake, harps. I will awake early in the morning. ⁹ O Lord, I will give thanks to You among the people. I will sing praises to You among the nations. ¹⁰ For Your loving-kindness is great to the heavens, and Your truth to the clouds. ¹¹ Be lifted up above the heavens, O God. Let Your shining-greatness be above all the earth.

³⁶ Abigail came to Nabal and saw that he was having a special supper in his house, like the special supper of a king. Nabal’s heart was full of joy, because he was very drunk. So she did not tell him anything until the morning. ³⁷ But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things. And his heart died within him so that he became like a stone. ³⁸ The Lord made Nabal die about ten days later.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Thanks be to the Lord, Who has punished Nabal for putting me to shame. He has kept His servant from sin. And the Lord has turned the sin of Nabal upon himself.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to be his wife. ⁴⁰ When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you, to take you as his wife.” ⁴¹ She stood up and then put her face to the ground, and said, “See, your woman servant will serve you by washing the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Then she got ready in a hurry and traveled on a donkey, with her five young women who followed her. She followed the men David had sent, and became his wife.

Jesus Prays in the Garden ^(A)

³⁹ Jesus came out of the room. Then He went to the Mount of Olives as He had been doing. The followers went with Him. ⁴⁰ When He got there, He said to them, “Pray that you will not be tempted.” ⁴¹ He walked away from them about as far as a stone can be thrown. There He got down with His face on the ground and prayed. ⁴² He said, “Father, if it can be done, take away what must happen to Me. Even so, not what I want, but what You want.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven came and gave Him strength. ⁴⁴ His heart was much troubled and He prayed all the more. Water ran from His face like blood and fell to the ground.

⁴⁵ When Jesus got up after praying, He went back to the followers. He found them sleeping because of so much sorrow. ⁴⁶ He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not be tempted.”