Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David Becomes King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you be filled with sorrow because of Saul, since I have turned away from him being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse of Bethlehem. For I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will kill me when he hears about it.” The Lord said, “Take a young cow with you, and say, ‘I have come to give a gift to the Lord.’ ³ Ask Jesse to come when you give the gift, and I will show you what you should do. You will choose for Me the one I name to you.” ⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. The leaders of the city came shaking with fear to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?” ⁵ Samuel said, “I have come in peace to give a gift to the Lord. Make yourselves holy and come with me as I give the gift.” He set apart Jesse and his sons also, and asked them to come to the gift-giving. ⁶ When they had come, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “For sure he is the Lord’s chosen one who is standing before Him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at the way he looks on the outside or how tall he is, because I have not chosen him. For the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. A man looks at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one.” ⁹ Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Jesse made seven of his sons pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And Jesse said, “There is yet the youngest one. See, he is taking care of the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him. We will not sit down until he comes here.” ¹² So he sent for him and brought him in. His youngest son had good color in his skin, beautiful eyes and was good-looking. The Lord said, “Rise up and choose him. For this is the one.” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and poured the oil on him in front of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David with strength from that day on. And Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

The Lord—Our Shepherd

23 The Lord is my Shepherd. I will have everything I need. ² He lets me rest in fields of green grass. He leads me beside the quiet waters. ³ He makes me strong again. He leads me in the way of living right with Himself which brings honor to His name. ⁴ Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide and one with which to help. These comfort me. ⁵ You are making a table of food ready for me in front of those who hate me. You have poured oil on my head. I have everything I need. ⁶ For sure, You will give me goodness and loving-kindness all the days of my life. Then I will live with You in Your house forever.

⁸ At one time you lived in darkness. Now you are living in the light that comes from the Lord. Live as children who have the light of the Lord in them. ⁹ This light gives us truth. It makes us right with God and makes us good. ¹⁰ Learn how to please the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the bad things done in darkness. Instead, show that these things are wrong. ¹² It is a shame even to talk about these things done in secret. ¹³ All things can be seen when they are in the light. Everything that can be seen is in the light. ¹⁴ The Holy Writings say, “Wake up, you who are sleeping. Rise from the dead and Christ will give you light.” ^(A)

Jesus Heals a Man Who Was Born Blind

9 As Jesus went on His way, He saw a man who had been born blind. ² His followers asked Him, “Teacher, whose sin made this man to be born blind? Was it the sin of this man or the sin of his parents?” ³ Jesus answered, “The sin of this man or the sin of his parents did not make him to be born blind. He was born blind so the work of God would be seen in him. ⁴ We must keep on doing the work of Him Who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no man can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

⁶ After Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground. He mixed it with dust and put that mud on the eyes of the blind man. ⁷ Then Jesus said to him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means Sent.) The man went away and washed. When he came back, he could see.

⁸ Neighbors and others had seen him begging. They said, “Is not this the man who sat and begged?” ⁹ Some said, “This is the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man who had been blind said, “I am the man.” ¹⁰ They said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “A Man called Jesus made mud and put it on my eyes. Then He said to me, ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.’ I went and washed and I can see.” ¹² Then they asked him, “Where is He?” He answered, “I do not know.”

The Proud Religious Law-Keepers Are Troubled about This Healing

¹³ They took the man who had been born blind to the proud religious law-keepers. ¹⁴ It was the Day of Rest when Jesus had made mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Again the proud religious law-keepers asked the man who had been born blind how he had been made to see. He answered them, “Jesus put mud on my eyes. I washed and now I see!” ¹⁶ Some of the proud religious law-keepers said, “The Man Who did this is not from God because He worked on the Day of Rest.” Others said, “How can a sinful man do powerful works?” They could not agree about Jesus. ¹⁷ They spoke again to the blind man, saying, “What do you say about Him since He opened your eyes?” He answered, “He is One Who speaks for God.”

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe this man had been blind and had been made to see. They called his parents ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son? Do you say he was born blind? How does he see now?” ²⁰ They answered, “We know this is our son and we know he was born blind. ²¹ But we do not know how it is that he can see now. We do not know who opened his eyes. He is old enough, ask him. He can tell you himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. The Jews had talked among themselves. They had agreed that the person who said that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the Jewish place of worship. ²³ That is why his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.”

²⁴ The proud religious law-keepers asked the man again, who had been blind, to come. They said to him, “Give thanks to God. We know this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ The man who had been blind said to them, “I do not know if He is a sinner or not. One thing I know. I was blind, but now I can see.” ²⁶ They asked him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered, “I have told you already. You did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His followers also?”

²⁸ The proud religious law-keepers became angry at him and said, “You are a follower of Jesus. We are followers of Moses. ²⁹ We know God spoke to Moses. We do not know where this Man is from.” ³⁰ The man said to them, “This is strange! You do not know where He came from and yet He opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners. We know if anyone loves and worships God, and does what He wants, God listens to him. ³² From the beginning of the world no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything like this.”

³⁴ They said to him, “You were born in sin. Are you trying to teach us?” Then they put him out of the place of worship.

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keepers

³⁵ Jesus heard that the proud religious law-keepers had put the man who had been healed out of the place of worship. He found the man and said to him, “Do you put your trust in the Son of God?” ³⁶ He said, “Who is He, Sir? Tell me so that I can put my trust in Him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him. He is talking with you.” ³⁸ He said, “I do put my trust in You, Lord.” Then he bowed down before Jesus and worshiped Him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world to say what is right from wrong. I came so those who do not see might see, and those who do see might be made blind.” ⁴⁰ Some of the proud religious law-keepers who were with Him heard this. They said to Him, “Are we blind also?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But because you say, ‘We see,’ you still are guilty of your sin.