Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

57 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in Thee. Yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities pass by.

² I will cry unto God Most High, unto God that performeth all things for me.

³ He shall send from heaven 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 them 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 whereof they themselves are fallen. Selah

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

⁸ Awake, my glory! Awake, psaltery and harp! I myself will awaken early.

⁹ I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people; 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 alighted from 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 thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

²⁵ Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my lord whom thou didst send.

²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withheld thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies and those who seek evil for my lord be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸ I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹ Yet a man has 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 the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out, 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 hath spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel,

³¹ that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causelessly or that my lord hath avenged himself. But when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.”

³² And 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 mine own hand.

³⁴ For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, who hath kept me back from hurting thee, unless thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any who urinates against the wall.”

³⁵ So David received from her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, “Go up in peace to thine 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 waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

⁸ Be ye also patient; make firm your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

⁹ Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door!

¹⁰ My brethren, take the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering affliction and of patience.

¹¹ Behold, we count them happy who endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, how the Lord is full of pity and of tender mercy.

¹² But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, nor by any other oath; but let your “Yea” be yea, and your “Nay” be nay, lest ye fall into condemnation.