Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²⁶ When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. ²⁷ When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.

Nathan's Message and David's Repentance

12 ^(A)The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, “There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had many cattle and sheep, ³ while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. ⁴ One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to fix a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal for his guest.”

⁵ David became very angry at the rich man and said, “I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die! ⁶ For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took.”

⁷ “You are that man,” Nathan said to David. “And this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. ⁸ I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. ⁹ Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! ¹⁰ Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife.

¹³ “I have sinned against the Lord,” David said.

Nathan replied, “The Lord forgives you; you will not die. ¹⁴ But because you have shown such contempt for the Lord in doing this, your child will die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.

David's Son Dies

The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick.

Confession and Forgiveness^[a]

Jews and Gentiles Are Saved by Faith

¹⁵ Indeed, we are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” as they are called. ^16 (A)Yet we know that a person is put right with God only through faith in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires. We, too, have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be put right with God through our faith in Christ, and not by doing what the Law requires. For no one is put right with God by doing what the Law requires. ¹⁷ If, then, as we try to be put right with God by our union with Christ, we are found to be sinners, as much as the Gentiles are—does this mean that Christ is serving the cause of sin? By no means! ¹⁸ If I start to rebuild the system of Law that I tore down, then I show myself to be someone who breaks the Law. ¹⁹ So far as the Law is concerned, however, I am dead—killed by the Law itself—in order that I might live for God. I have been put to death with Christ on his cross, ²⁰ so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. ²¹ I refuse to reject the grace of God. But if a person is put right with God through the Law, it means that Christ died for nothing!

Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee

³⁶ A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. ^37 (A)In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house, so she brought an alabaster jar full of perfume ³⁸ and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them. ³⁹ When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!”

⁴⁰ Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, Teacher,” he said, “tell me.”

⁴¹ “There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. ⁴² Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?”

⁴³ “I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.”

“You are right,” said Jesus. ⁴⁴ Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came. ⁴⁶ You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume. ⁴⁷ I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Women Who Accompanied Jesus

8 Some time later Jesus traveled through towns and villages, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve disciples went with him, ^2 (B)and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (who was called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had been driven out; ³ Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer in Herod's court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.