Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

17 I am pleading for your help, O Lord; for I have been honest and have done what is right, and you must listen to my earnest cry! ² Publicly acquit me, Lord, for you are always fair. ³ You have tested me and seen that I am good. You have come even in the night and found nothing amiss and know that I have told the truth. ⁴ I have followed your commands and have not gone along with cruel and evil men. ⁵ My feet have not slipped from your paths.

⁶ Why am I praying like this? Because I know you will answer me, O God! Yes, listen as I pray. ⁷ Show me your strong love in wonderful ways, O Savior of all those seeking your help against their foes. ⁸ Protect me as you would the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings as you hover over me.

⁹ My enemies encircle me with murder in their eyes. ¹⁰ They are pitiless and arrogant. Listen to their boasting. ¹¹ They close in upon me and are ready to throw me to the ground. ¹² They are like lions eager to tear me apart, like young lions hiding and waiting their chance.

^13-14 Lord, arise and stand against them. Push them back! Come and save me from these men of the world whose only concern is earthly gain—these men whom you have filled with your treasures so that their children and grandchildren are rich and prosperous.

¹⁵ But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth but in seeing you and knowing all is well between us. And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face-to-face.

²⁷ then, when the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace and she became one of his wives; and she gave birth to his son. But the Lord was very displeased with what David had done.

12 ^1-2 So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to tell David this story:

“There were two men in a certain city, one very rich, owning many flocks of sheep and herds of goats; ³ and the other very poor, owning nothing but a little lamb he had managed to buy. It was his children’s pet, and he fed it from his own plate and let it drink from his own cup; he cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. ⁴ Recently a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing a lamb from his own flocks for food for the traveler, he took the poor man’s lamb and roasted it and served it.”

⁵ David was furious. “I swear by the living God,” he vowed, “any man who would do a thing like that should be put to death; ⁶ he shall repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are that rich man! The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I made you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. ⁸ I gave you his palace and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. ⁹ Why, then, have you despised the laws of God and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah and stolen his wife. ¹⁰ Therefore murder shall be a constant threat in your family from this time on because you have insulted me by taking Uriah’s wife. ¹¹ I vow that because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man, and he will go to bed with them in public view.^{[a] 12} You did it secretly, but I will do this to you openly, in the sight of all Israel.’”

¹³ “I have sinned against the Lord,” David confessed to Nathan.

Then Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. ¹⁴ But you have given great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to despise and blaspheme him, so your child shall die.”

¹⁵ Then Nathan returned to his home. And the Lord made Bathsheba’s baby deathly sick.

⁷ “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Philadelphia.

“This message is sent to you by the one who is holy and true and has the key of David to open what no one can shut and to shut what no one can open.

⁸ “I know you well; you aren’t strong, but you have tried to obey^[a] and have not denied my Name. Therefore I have opened a door to you that no one can shut.

⁹ “Note this: I will force those supporting the causes of Satan while claiming to be mine^[b] (but they aren’t—they are lying) to fall at your feet and acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

¹⁰ “Because you have patiently obeyed me despite the persecution, therefore I will protect you from the time of Great Tribulation and temptation,^[c] which will come upon the world to test everyone alive. ¹¹ Look, I am coming soon!^[d] Hold tightly to the little strength you have—so that no one will take away your crown.

¹² “As for the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; he will be secure and will go out no more; and I will write my God’s Name on him, and he will be a citizen in the city of my God—the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from my God; and he will have my new Name inscribed upon him.

¹³ “Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.