Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Samekh

Ayin

⁶ On the day they were returning from David’s victory over the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet the king, singing and dancing with tambourines and other instruments, making joyful music. ⁷ At one point, the women sang as they danced and celebrated.

⁸ This chant made Saul tremble with fury.

⁹ From that moment on, Saul was suspicious of David.

¹⁰ On the next day, the True God sent an evil spirit to overwhelm Saul and put him in a prophetic state inside his residence. While David was playing the harp, as he did every day to try and soothe the king, Saul had his spear in his hand ¹¹ and decided to throw it at David, thinking, “I will pin him to the wall.” But David twice escaped Saul’s angry attacks.

¹² Saul was afraid of David because the Spirit of the Eternal was with him but had left Saul. ¹³ So, at last, Saul removed David from his presence, making him a commander over 1,000 men, hoping he would die in battle. But David went out to the battle and returned. ¹⁴ David was successful in everything he did because the Eternal One was present with him.

¹⁵ When Saul saw that David achieved such success, he was amazed and afraid of him. ¹⁶ All of Israel and Judah loved David, who led their soldiers into battle and brought them back victorious.

Saul came up with a plan and called David.

Saul was thinking that he did not need to murder David himself; instead, the Philistines would eventually kill David.

¹⁹ But at the time when Saul’s daughter Merab was to be given to David as his wife, she was instead given in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. ²⁰ Saul’s daughter Michal, however, loved David; and when Saul heard this, he was pleased.

²¹ He thought that he would give her to David to trap him in a dangerous situation where the Philistines could still destroy David. So Saul spoke to David again.

²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David as requested, but again he replied modestly.

²⁴ Saul’s servants reported David’s concerns back to the king.

Saul thought David would be killed by the Philistines while attempting this task. ²⁶ When the servants repeated Saul’s words, he agreed to Saul’s terms and decided to fulfill these conditions to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the allotted time elapsed to pay the dowry, ²⁷ David went with his men, killed 200 Philistines, and presented their foreskins to the king so that he could become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave David his daughter Michal in marriage; ²⁸ but when the king saw how David enjoyed the favor of the Eternal One, and that his daughter Michal loved him, ²⁹ he felt even more threatened by David. After his plan failed, Saul considered David his constant enemy.

³⁰ Whenever the commanders of the Philistine army came out to fight, David distinguished himself against them more than any of Saul’s other servants, so that everyone valued him.

¹³ One day a moderate south wind began to blow, which made an attempt possible. We weighed anchor and sailed west, staying near shore. ¹⁴ Then things got scary. A violent northeaster, the Euraquilo, blew down across Crete. ¹⁵ We were caught. We couldn’t turn and sail into this fierce wind, so we had no choice but to let it drive us. ¹⁶ We briefly found a bit of shelter from the wind near the island of Clauda. We had been having trouble securing the ship’s lifeboat; ¹⁷ but we were able there to hoist it up and send down cables to brace the hull, which was in danger of breaking apart under the strain of the storm. The wind was relentless, and soon we were again being driven southwest at the mercy of the storm. We feared it would drive us all the way to the Syrtis Banks, down near the North African coast, so we threw out the sea anchor to slow us down. ¹⁸ All through the night, the storm pounded us violently. The next day, the crew threw the ship’s cargo overboard; ¹⁹ and the day after that, they discarded any of the ship’s equipment they could do without. ²⁰ Days passed without relief from the furious winds, without a single break in the clouds to see sun or stars, even for a moment. Despair set in, as if all hope of rescue had been cast overboard as well. ²¹ On top of all of this, the crew had been unable to eat anything because of the turmoil. Paul saw the crew had reached a critical moment. He gathered them.

^27-28 Imagine what happened: It’s the 14th night of our nightmare voyage; we’re being driven by the storm somewhere in the Adriatic Sea. It’s about midnight, and the sailors are taking soundings, fearing we might run aground. “Twenty fathoms,” somebody calls out in the darkness, then a little later, “Fifteen fathoms.” We’re nearing land! ²⁹ But hope quickly gives way to a new fear. At any moment in this darkness, they realize, we could be smashed onto unseen rocks. So they drop four anchors from the stern and pray for first light.

³⁰ Then some of the crew decide to make a run for it on their own. They say they need to let out more anchors from the bow, and this will require lowering the ship’s lifeboat. They actually plan to abandon us; we realize what’s going on. ³¹ Paul quickly speaks to the officer and soldiers.

³² So the soldiers intervene, cut away the lifeboat, and let it drift away. ^{33, 37} We wait. Just before dawn, Paul again gathers everyone on the ship—all 276 of us. He urges everyone to eat and encourages us not to lose hope.^[a]

³⁵ Then Paul takes a loaf of bread and gives thanks to God in front of all of them. He breaks it, takes a piece, and begins to eat. ³⁶ A fresh surge of courage seems to fill their hearts as they also begin to eat. ³⁸ After satisfying their hunger, the crew lightens the ship by throwing the remaining wheat overboard.