Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer with Confidence in Final Salvation
A Prayer of David.
17 Hear a just cause, O Lord,
Attend to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.
3 You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
(A)You have [a]tried me and have found [b]nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not (B)transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.
5 (C)Uphold my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.
6 (D)I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7 Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O You who [c]save those who trust in You
From those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the [d]apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9 From the wicked who oppress me,
From my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have closed up their (E)fat hearts;
With their mouths they (F)speak proudly.
11 They have now surrounded us in our steps;
They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,
12 As a lion is eager to tear his prey,
And like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O Lord,
Confront him, cast him down;
Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
14 With Your hand from men, O Lord,
From men of the world who have their portion in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.
They are satisfied with children,
And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.
27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she (A)became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done (B)displeased[a] the Lord.
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession
12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And (C)he came to him, and (D)said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this [b]shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore (E)fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I (F)anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 (G)Why have you (H)despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? (I)You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, (J)the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will (K)take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, (L)but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”
13 (M)So David said to Nathan, (N)“I have sinned against the Lord.”
And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has (O)put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord (P)to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.
The Death of David’s Son
And the (Q)Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill.
The Faithful Church
7 “And to the [a]angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says (A)He who is holy, (B)He who is true, (C)“He who has the key of David, (D)He who opens and no one shuts, and (E)shuts and no one opens”: 8 (F)“I know your works. See, I have set before you (G)an open door, [b]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make (H)those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed (I)I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept [c]My command to persevere, (J)I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon (K)the whole world, to test those who dwell (L)on the earth. 11 [d]Behold, (M)I am coming quickly! (N)Hold fast what you have, that no one may take (O)your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him (P)a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall (Q)go out no more. (R)I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the (S)New Jerusalem, which (T)comes down out of heaven from My God. (U)And I will write on him My new name.
13 (V)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.