Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 34

[A Psalm] of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

² My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.

³ O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

⁴ I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.^(A)

⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused.

⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

^7 [a]The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.^(B)

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.^(C)

¹⁵ Then said Hushai to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counseled.

¹⁶ Now send quickly and tell David, Lodge not this night at the fords [at the Jordan] of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up and all the people with him.

¹⁷ Now [the youths] Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En-rogel, for they must not be seen coming into the city. But a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.

¹⁸ But a lad saw them and told Absalom; but they left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

¹⁹ And the woman spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not discovered.

²⁰ For when Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They went over the brook of water. When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had departed, the boys came up out of the well and went and told King David, and said, Arise and pass quickly over the river Jordan; for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.

²² David arose and all the people with him and passed over the Jordan. By daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed.

²³ But when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, went home to his city, put his household in order, and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

²⁴ Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

²⁵ Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of an [Ishmaelite] named Ithra, who married Abigail daughter of Nahash, [half sister of David and] sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

²⁶ So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash of Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim

²⁸ Brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched [pulse—seeds of peas and beans],

²⁹ Honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of cows for David and the people with him to eat; for they said, The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.

6 Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.

² Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and ^[a]troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete ^[b]what is lacking [in your obedience to it].

³ For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.

⁴ But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [^[c]in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor.

⁵ For every person will have to bear (^[d]be equal to understanding and calmly receive) his own [^[e]little] load ^[f][of oppressive faults].

⁶ Let him who receives instruction in the Word [of God] share all good things with his teacher [contributing to his support].

⁷ Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked ^[g]by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and ^[h]that only is what he will reap.

⁸ For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

⁹ And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

¹⁰ So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good [^[i]morally] to all people [not only ^[j]being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God’s family with you, the believers].