Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A song for worship.)

Trusting the Lord in Times of Trouble

Jonathan Helps David Escape

20 David escaped from Prophets Village. Then he ran to see Jonathan and asked, “Why does your father Saul want to kill me? What have I done wrong?”

² “My father can't be trying to kill you! He never does anything without telling me about it. Why would he hide this from me? It can't be true!”

³ “Jonathan, I swear it's true! But your father knows how much you like me, and he didn't want to break your heart. That's why he didn't tell you. I swear by the living Lord and by your own life that I'm only one step ahead of death.”

⁴ Then Jonathan said, “Tell me what to do, and I'll do it.”

^5 (A) David answered:

Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,^[a] and I'm supposed to eat dinner with your father. But instead, I'll hide in a field until the evening of the next day. ⁶ If Saul wonders where I am, tell him, “David asked me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem, so he could take part in a sacrifice his family makes there every year.”

⁷ If your father says it's all right, then I'm safe. But if he gets angry, you'll know he wants to harm me. ⁸ Be kind to me. After all, it was your idea to promise the Lord that we would always be loyal friends. If I've done anything wrong, kill me yourself, but don't hand me over to your father.

⁹ “Don't worry,” Jonathan said. “If I find out that my father wants to kill you, I'll certainly let you know.”

¹⁰ “How will you do that?” David asked.

¹¹ “Let's go out to this field, and I'll tell you,” Jonathan answered.

When they got there, ¹² Jonathan said:

I swear by the Lord God of Israel, that two days from now I'll know what my father is planning. Of course I'll let you know if he's friendly toward you. ¹³ But if he wants to harm you, I promise to tell you and help you escape. And I ask the Lord to punish me severely if I don't keep my promise.

I pray that the Lord will bless you, just as he used to bless my father. ^14-15 (B) Someday the Lord will wipe out all of your enemies. Then if I'm still alive, please be as kind to me as the Lord has been. But if I'm dead, be kind to my family.

¹⁶ Jonathan and David made an agreement that even David's descendants would have to keep.^[b] Then Jonathan said, “I pray that the Lord will take revenge on your descendants if they break our promise.”^[c]

¹⁷ Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself, so he asked David to promise once more that he would be a loyal friend. ¹⁸ After this Jonathan said:

Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, and people will wonder where you are, because your place at the table will be empty. ¹⁹ By the day after tomorrow, everyone will think you've been gone a long time.^[d] Then go to the place where you hid before and stay beside Going-Away Rock.^{[e] 20} I'll shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock, ²¹ and send my servant to find the arrows.

You'll know if it's safe to come out by what I tell him. If it is safe, I swear by the living Lord that I'll say, “The arrows are on this side of you! Pick them up!” ²² But if it isn't safe, I'll say to the boy, “The arrows are farther away!” This will mean that the Lord wants you to leave, and you must go. ²³ But he will always watch us to make sure that we keep the promise we made to each other.

²⁴ So David hid there in the field.

During the New Moon Festival, Saul sat down to eat ²⁵ by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him,^[f] and Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty.

Generous Giving

8 ^(A) My friends, we want you to know that the churches in Macedonia^[a] have shown others God's gift of undeserved grace. ² Although they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give generously. ³ They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. ⁴ They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God's people. ⁵ And they did more than we had hoped. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.

⁶ Titus was the one who got you started doing this good thing, so we begged him to help you finish what you had begun. ⁷ You do everything better than anyone else. You have stronger faith. You speak better and know more. You are eager to give, and you love us better.^[b] Now you must give more generously than anyone else.