Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.
A Prayer of David.
17 Hear a (A)just cause, Lord, (B)give Your attention to my cry;
(C)Listen to my prayer, which is not from (D)deceitful lips.
2 Let (E)my [a]judgment come forth from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look with (F)integrity.
3 You have (G)put my heart to the test;
You have visited me by night;
You have (H)sifted me and (I)You find [b]nothing;
My (J)intent is that my mouth will not offend.
4 As for the works of mankind, (K)by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the (L)ways of the violent.
5 My (M)steps have held to Your [c]paths.
My (N)feet have not slipped.
6 I have (O)called upon You, for You will answer me, God;
(P)Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
7 (Q)Show Your wonderful faithfulness,
(R)Savior of those who take refuge [d]at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as [e]the (S)apple of the eye;
Hide me (T)in the shadow of Your wings
9 From the (U)wicked who deal violently with me,
My (V)deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have (W)closed their [f]unfeeling hearts,
With their mouths they (X)speak proudly.
11 They have now (Y)surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes (Z)to cast us down to the ground.
12 He is (AA)like a lion that is eager to tear,
And as a young lion (AB)lurking in secret places.
13 (AC)Arise, Lord, confront him, (AD)make him bow down;
(AE)Save my soul from the wicked with (AF)Your sword,
14 From people by (AG)Your hand, Lord,
From people [g]of the world, (AH)whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You (AI)fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babies.
15 As for me, I shall (AJ)behold Your face in righteousness;
(AK)I shall be satisfied with Your (AL)likeness when I awake.
27 When the time of mourning was over, David sent servants and [a]had her brought to his house and (A)she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But (B)the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.
Nathan Rebukes David
12 Then the Lord sent (C)Nathan to David. And (D)he came to him and [b]said,
“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
2 The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing at all except (E)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat [c]scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie [d]in his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the wealthy man,
And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly [e](F)deserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb (G)four times over, since he did this thing and [f]had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “(H)You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(I)It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you (J)your master’s house and put your master’s wives [g]into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you [h]many more things like these! 9 Why (K)have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? (L)You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you (M)have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, (N)the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; (O)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in [i]broad daylight. 12 Indeed, (P)you did it secretly, but (Q)I will do this thing before all Israel, and [j]in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(R)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has (S)allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have (T)shown utter disrespect for the [k]Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.
Loss of a Child
Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s [l]widow bore to David, so that he was very sick.
Message to Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in (A)Philadelphia write:
(B)He who is holy, (C)who is true, who has (D)the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:
8 ‘(E)I know your [a]deeds. Behold, I have put before you (F)an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and (G)have not denied My name. 9 Behold, I [b]will make those of (H)the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them (I)come and bow down before your feet, and make them know that (J)I have loved you. 10 Because you have (K)kept (L)My [c]word of perseverance, (M)I also will keep you from the hour of the [d](N)testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole [e](O)world, to [f]test (P)those who live on the earth. 11 (Q)I am coming quickly; (R)hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your (S)crown. 12 (T)The one who overcomes, I will make him a (U)pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the (V)name of My God, and (W)the name of the city of My God, (X)the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My (Y)new name. 13 (Z)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
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