Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Love of God’s People

A song for going up to worship. Of David.

David and Jonathan

20 Then David ran away from Naioth in Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I sinned against your father so that he’s trying to kill me?”

² Jonathan answered, “No! You won’t die! See, my father doesn’t do anything without first telling me. It doesn’t matter if it is very important or just a small thing. Why would he refuse to tell me he wants to kill you? No, it’s not true!”

³ But David took an oath. He said, “Your father knows very well that I’m your friend. He has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about it. If he knows, he will tell David.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I am very close to death!”

⁴ Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do anything you want me to do.”

⁵ So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival. I am supposed to eat with the king. But let me hide in the field until the third evening. ⁶ Your father may notice I am gone. If he does, tell him, ‘David begged me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem. Every year at this time, his family group offers a sacrifice.’ ⁷ If your father says, ‘Fine,’ I am safe. But if he becomes angry, you can believe he wants to hurt me. ⁸ Jonathan, be kind to me, your servant. You have made an agreement with me before the Lord. If I am guilty, you may kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

⁹ Jonathan answered, “No, never! If I learn that my father plans to harm you, I will warn you!”

¹⁰ David asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you unkindly?”

¹¹ Then Jonathan said, “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So Jonathan and David went together into the field.

¹² Jonathan said to David, “I promise this before the Lord, the God of Israel: At this same time day after tomorrow, I will find out how my father feels. If he feels good toward you, I’ll send word to you. I’ll let you know. ¹³ But my father may mean to hurt you. If so, I will let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord punish me terribly if I don’t do this. And may the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. ¹⁴ But show me the kindness of the Lord as long as I live. Do this so that I may not die. ¹⁵ You must not stop showing your kindness to my family. Don’t do this, even when the Lord has destroyed all your enemies from the earth.”

¹⁶ So Jonathan made an agreement with David. He said, “May the Lord punish David’s enemies.” ¹⁷ And Jonathan asked David to repeat his promise of love for him. He did this because he loved David as much as he loved himself.

¹⁸ Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. Your seat will be empty. So my father will notice you’re gone. ¹⁹ On the third day go to the place where you hid when this trouble began. Wait by the rock Ezel. ²⁰ On the third day I will shoot three arrows to the side of the rock. I will shoot as if I am shooting at a target. ²¹ Then I will send a boy and tell him to go find the arrows. I may say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.’ If so, you may come out of hiding. You may do this as surely as the Lord lives because you are safe. There is no danger. ²² But I may say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you.’ If I do, you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. ²³ Remember what we talked about. The Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”

³⁵ The next morning Jonathan went out to the field. He went to meet David as they had agreed. He had a young boy with him. ³⁶ Jonathan said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” When he ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ The boy ran to the place where Jonathan’s arrow fell. But Jonathan called, “The arrow is beyond you!” ³⁸ Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and brought it back to his master. ³⁹ (The boy knew nothing about what this meant. Only Jonathan and David knew.) ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, “Go back to town.”

⁴¹ When the boy left, David came out from the south side of the rock. He bowed facedown on the ground before Jonathan. He did this three times. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other. They cried together, but David cried the most.

⁴² Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace. We have promised by the Lord that we will be friends. We said, ‘The Lord will be a witness between you and me, and between our descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to town.

The Good News Comes to Antioch

¹⁹ Many of the believers were scattered by the terrible things that happened after Stephen was killed. Some of them went to places as far away as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They were telling the message to others, but only to Jews. ²⁰ Some of these believers were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. When they came to Antioch, they spoke also to Greeks,^[a] telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The Lord was helping the believers. And a large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²² The church in Jerusalem heard about all of this, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ^23-24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. When he reached Antioch and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad. He encouraged all the believers in Antioch. He told them, “Never lose your faith. Always obey the Lord with all your hearts.” Many people became followers of the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶ When he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. And for a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church. They taught many people there. In Antioch the followers were called Christians for the first time.