Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Saul Becomes David's Enemy

⁶ David had killed Goliath, the battle was over, and the Israelite army set out for home. As the army went along, women came out of each Israelite town to welcome King Saul. They were celebrating by singing songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps. ^7 (A) They sang:

⁸ This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.” ⁹ Saul never again trusted David.

¹⁰ The next day the Lord let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹ Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.

¹² Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was helping David and was no longer helping him. ¹³ Saul put David in charge of 1,000 soldiers and sent him out to fight. ¹⁴ The Lord helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles. ¹⁵ This made Saul even more afraid of David. ¹⁶ But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to^[a] David, because he led the army in battle.

¹⁷ One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the Lord's battles for me, I'll let you marry my oldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”

¹⁸ David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”

¹⁹ But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.

²⁰ Saul had another daughter. Her name was Michal, and Saul found out that she was in love with David. This made Saul happy, ²¹ and he thought, “I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him.” He told David, “I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters.”

^22-23 Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private, so they went to David and said, “Look, the king likes you, and all of his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”

“I'm not rich^[b] or famous enough to marry princess Michal!” David answered.

²⁴ The officials went back to Saul and told him exactly what David had said. ²⁵ Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David, and he told his officials to tell David, “The king doesn't want any silver or gold. He only wants to get even with his enemies. All you have to do is to bring back proof that you have killed 100 Philistines!”^{[c] 26} The officials told David, and David wanted to marry the princess.

King Saul had set a time limit, and before it ran out, ²⁷ David and his men left and killed 200 Philistines. David brought back the proof that Saul had demanded and showed it to him, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. ²⁸ King Saul knew that she loved David,^[d] and he also realized that the Lord was helping David. ²⁹ But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.

³⁰ The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.

The Storm at Sea

¹³ When a gentle wind from the south started blowing, the men thought it was a good time to do what they had planned. So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed along the coast of Crete. ¹⁴ But soon a strong wind called “The Northeaster” blew against us from the island. ¹⁵ The wind struck the ship, and we could not sail against it. So we let the wind carry the ship.

¹⁶ We went along the island of Cauda on the side that was protected from the wind. We had a hard time holding the lifeboat in place, ¹⁷ but finally we got it where it belonged. Then the sailors wrapped ropes around the ship to hold it together. They lowered the sail and let the ship drift along, because they were afraid it might hit the sandbanks in the gulf of Syrtis.

¹⁸ The storm was so fierce that the next day they threw some of the ship's cargo overboard. ¹⁹ Then on the third day, with their bare hands they threw overboard some of the ship's gear. ²⁰ For several days we could not see either the sun or the stars. A strong wind kept blowing, and we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹ Since none of us had eaten anything for a long time, Paul stood up and told the men:

You should have listened to me! If you had stayed on in Crete, you would not have had this damage and loss. ²² But now I beg you to cheer up, because you will be safe. Only the ship will be lost.

²³ I belong to God, and I worship him. Last night he sent an angel ²⁴ to tell me, “Paul, don't be afraid! You will stand trial before the Emperor. And because of you, God will save the lives of everyone on the ship.” ²⁵ Cheer up! I am sure that God will do exactly what he promised. ²⁶ But we will first be shipwrecked on some island.

²⁷ For 14 days and nights we had been blown around over the Mediterranean Sea. But about midnight the sailors realized we were getting near land. ²⁸ They measured and found that the water was about 40 meters deep. A little later they measured again and found it was only about 30 meters. ²⁹ The sailors were afraid that we might hit some rocks, and they let down four anchors from the back of the ship. Then they prayed for daylight.

³⁰ The sailors wanted to escape from the ship. So they lowered the lifeboat into the water, pretending that they were letting down some anchors from the front of the ship. ³¹ But Paul said to Captain Julius and the soldiers, “If the sailors don't stay on the ship, you won't have any chance to save your lives.” ³² The soldiers then cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall into the sea.

³³ Just before daylight Paul begged the people to eat something. He told them, “For 14 days you have been so worried that you haven't eaten a thing. ³⁴ I beg you to eat something. Your lives depend on it. Do this and not one of you will be hurt.”

³⁵ After Paul had said this, he took a piece of bread and gave thanks to God. Then in front of everyone, he broke the bread and ate some. ³⁶ They all felt encouraged, and each of them ate something. ³⁷ There were 276 people on the ship, ³⁸ and after everyone had eaten, they threw the cargo of wheat into the sea to make the ship lighter.