Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

To the chief Musician. 'Destroy not.' Of David. Michtam; when he fled from Saul in the cave.

57 Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me; for my soul taketh refuge in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings do I take refuge, until the calamities be overpast.

² I will call unto God, the Most High; unto God that performeth [all] for me.

³ He will send from the heavens and save me; he hath covered with reproach him that would swallow me up. Selah. God hath sent forth his loving-kindness and his truth.

⁴ My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down [among] them that breathe out flames, the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

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

⁶ They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down: they have digged a pit before me; they are fallen into the midst thereof. Selah.

⁷ My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, yea, I will sing psalms.

⁸ Awake, my glory; awake, lute and harp: I will wake the dawn.

⁹ I will give thee thanks among the peoples, O Lord; of thee will I sing psalms among the nations:

¹⁰ For thy loving-kindness is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

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

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hasted 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 the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

²⁵ Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

²⁶ And now, my lord, [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord.

²⁸ I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house; because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹ And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling.

³⁰ And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel,

³¹ that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me.

³³ And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

³⁴ But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male.

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

⁷ Have patience, therefore, brethren, till the coming of the Lord. Behold, the labourer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, having patience for it until it receive [the] early and [the] latter rain.

⁸ *Ye* also have patience: stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawn nigh.

⁹ Complain not one against another, brethren, that ye be not judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door.

¹⁰ Take [as] an example, brethren, of suffering and having patience, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of [the] Lord.

¹¹ Behold, we call them blessed who have endured. Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful.

¹² But before all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, that ye do not fall under judgment.