Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ס Samekh.

ע Ayin.

⁶ And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the ^[a]Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels, with joy, and with ^[b]instruments of music. ⁷ And the women ^[c]sang one to another as they played, and said,

⁸ And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

¹⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he ^[d]prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as he did day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand; ¹¹ and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall. And David avoided out of his presence twice. ¹² And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and was departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David ^[e]behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Jehovah was with him. ¹⁵ And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷ And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight Jehovah’s battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. ¹⁸ And David said unto Saul, Who am I, and ^[f]what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? ¹⁹ But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. ²⁰ And Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law a second time.

²² And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king’s son-in-law. ²³ And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. ²⁵ And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. And the days were not expired; ²⁷ and David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. ²⁸ And Saul saw and knew that Jehovah was with David; and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him. ²⁹ And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, as often as they went forth, that David ^[g]behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much ^[h]set by.

¹³ And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close in shore. ¹⁴ But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo: ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven. ¹⁶ And running under the lee of a small island called ^[a]Cauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat: ¹⁷ and when they had hoisted it up, they used helps, under-girding the ship; and, fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and so were driven. ¹⁸ And as we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw the freight overboard; ¹⁹ and the third day they cast out with their own hands the ^[b]tackling of the ship. ²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away. ²¹ And when they had been long without food, then Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss. ²² And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For there stood by me this night an angel of the God whose I am, whom also I serve, ²⁴ saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Caesar: and lo, God hath granted thee all them that sail with thee. ²⁵ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto me. ²⁶ But we must be cast upon a certain island.

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven to and fro in the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some country: ²⁸ and they sounded, and found twenty fathoms; and after a little space, they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ And fearing lest haply we should be cast ashore on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and ^[c]wished for the day. ³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, under color as though they would lay out anchors from the foreship, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. ³³ And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take some food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. ³⁴ Wherefore I beseech you to take some food: for this is for your safety: for there shall not a hair perish from the head of any of you. ³⁵ And when he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he brake it, and began to eat. ³⁶ Then were they all of good cheer, and themselves also took food. ³⁷ And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. ³⁸ And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.