Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul because the LORD had repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
16 ¶ And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil and go; I will send thee to Jesse of Bethlehem for I have provided me a king among his sons.
2 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul understands it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.
3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do, and thou shalt anoint unto me the one whom I name unto thee.
4 And Samuel did as the LORD said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, Comest thou peaceably?
5 And he said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.
6 ¶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab and said, Peradventure is the LORD’s anointed before him?
7 And the LORD replied unto Samuel, Do not look on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him, for it is not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one.
9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one.
10 Again, Jesse made his seven sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD has not chosen these.
11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are all thy young men here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send for him, for we will not sit down to the table until he comes here.
12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him from among his brethren; and the Spirit of the LORD prospered David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Let the LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; let the name of the God of Jacob lift thee up
2 and send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion
3 and remember all thy offerings and reduce thy burnt sacrifice to the ashes of burnt fat, Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine heart and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy saving health, and in the name of our God we will be standard-bearers: let the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 ¶ Now know I that the LORD has kept his anointed; he will hear him from the heavens of his holiness with the saving valour of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.
9 The LORD saves the king; let him hear us on the day when we call.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord
7 (for we walk by faith, not by sight).
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
9 Therefore we also procure, whether present or absent, that we may please him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive according to that which they have done in the body, good or evil.
11 Therefore being certain of that terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12 ¶ For we do not commend ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf that ye may have something to answer those who glory in appearance, and not in heart.
13 For whether we are fools, it is unto God; or whether we are sane, it is for your cause.
14 For the charity of the Christ constrains us because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all are dead:
15 And that he died for all that those who live should not live from now on unto themselves, but unto him who died and rose again for them.
16 ¶ Therefore from now on we know no one according to the flesh: and even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new.
26 He also said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground
27 and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring forth and grow up, he knows not how.
28 For the earth brings forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest is come.
30 He also said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we compare it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth;
32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
33 And with many such parables he spoke the word unto them as they were able to hear it.
34 But without a parable he did not speak unto them; and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
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