Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

57 Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy upon me, for my soul trusts in You, and in the shadow of Your wings I will trust till afflictions pass over.

² I will call to the Most High God, the God Who performs toward me.

³ He will send from Heaven and save me from the reproof of him who would swallow me. Selah. God will send His mercy and His truth.

⁴ My soul is among lions; I lie among the children of men, who are set on fire; whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

⁵ Exalt Yourself, O God, above the heaven. Let Your Glory be upon all the Earth.

⁶ They have laid a net for my steps. My soul is pressed down; they have dug a pit before me and have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.

⁷ My heart is prepared, O God. My heart is prepared. I will sing and give praise!

⁸ Awake, my tongue! Awake, viol and harp! I will awake early!

⁹ I will praise You, O LORD, among the people. I will sing to You among the nations.

¹⁰ For Your mercy is great unto the heavens; Your Truth unto the clouds!

¹¹ Exalt Yourself, O God, above the heavens! Let Your Glory be upon all the Earth! To him who excels: Do not destroy. A Psalm of David, on Michtam

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted her donkey, and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground

²⁴ and fell at his feet, and said, “Oh, my lord, I have committed the iniquity! And please let your handmaid speak to you, and hear the words of your handmaid!

²⁵ “Please do not let my lord pay any attention to this wicked man, Nabal! For as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

²⁶ “Now, therefore, my lord. As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives (the LORD Who has restrained you from coming to shed blood, and from avenging yourself your own hand), so now your enemies shall be as Nabal, and those who intend to do my lord evil.

²⁷ “And now, this blessing which your handmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸ “Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For the LORD will make my lord a sure House, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD. And no misery has been found in you in all your life.

²⁹ “Yet a man has risen up to persecute you, and to seek your soul. But the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God. And the soul of your enemies God shall cast out, as out of the middle of a sling.

³⁰ “And when the LORD shall have done to my lord all the good that He has promised you, and shall have made you ruler over Israel,

³¹ “then it shall be no grief to you, nor offense of mind to my lord, that he has either shed blood without cause or that my lord has not avenged himself. And when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, remember your handmaid.”

³² Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, Who sent you this day to meet me.

³³ “And blessed be your counsel, and blessed be you, who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and that I have not avenged myself by my own hand.

³⁴ “For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives (Who has restrained me from hurting you), except that you had hurried and met me, surely no male would have been left to Nabal by the dawning of the day.”

³⁵ Then David received from her hand that which she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have heard your voice and have granted your petition.”

⁷ Therefore brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth (and has long patience for it) until he receives the early and the late rain.

⁸ Therefore, you also be patient, and settle your hearts. For the coming of the Lord draws near.

⁹ Do not groan against one another, brothers, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge stands before the door.

¹⁰ My brothers, take the Prophets as an example of suffering adversity and of long patience, who have spoken in the Name of the Lord.

¹¹ Behold, we count those blessed who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have known what end the Lord made. For the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹² But before all things, my brothers, do not swear - not by Heaven, nor by Earth, nor by any other oath. But let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’, ‘no’, lest you fall into condemnation.