Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
113 I hate those who are undecided whether or not to obey you; but my choice is clear—I love your law. 114 You are my refuge and my shield, and your promises are my only source of hope. 115 Begone, you evil-minded men! Don’t try to stop me from obeying God’s commands. 116 Lord, you promised to let me live! Never let it be said that God failed me. 117 Hold me safe above the heads of all my enemies; then I can continue to obey your laws.
118 But you have rejected all who reject your laws. They are only fooling themselves. 119 The wicked are the scum you skim off and throw away; no wonder I love to obey your laws! 120 I tremble in fear of you; I fear your punishments.
121 Don’t leave me to the mercy of my enemies, for I have done what is right; I’ve been perfectly fair. 122 Commit yourself to bless me! Don’t let the proud oppress me! 123 My eyes grow dim with longing for you to fulfill your wonderful promise to rescue me. 124 Lord, deal with me in loving-kindness, and teach me, your servant, to obey; 125 for I am your servant; therefore give me common sense to apply your rules to everything I do.
126 Lord, it is time for you to act. For these evil men have violated your laws, 127 while I love your commandments more than the finest gold. 128 Every law of God is right, whatever it concerns. I hate every other way.
19 Saul now urged his aides and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his close friendship with David, 2 told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields. 3 I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you; then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.”
4 The next morning[a] as Jonathan and his father were talking together, he spoke well of David and begged him not to be against David.
“He’s never done anything to harm you,” Jonathan pleaded. “He has always helped you in any way he could. 5 Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill Goliath, and how the Lord brought a great victory to Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you now murder an innocent man? There is no reason for it at all!”
6 Finally Saul agreed and vowed, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.”
7 Afterwards Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he took David to Saul and everything was as it had been before.
39 When it was day, they didn’t recognize the coastline, but noticed a bay with a beach and wondered whether they could get between the rocks and be driven up onto the beach. 40 They finally decided to try. Cutting off the anchors and leaving them in the sea, they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed ashore. 41 But the ship hit a sandbar[a] and ran aground. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was exposed to the violence of the waves and began to break apart.
42 The soldiers advised their commanding officer to let them kill the prisoners lest any of them swim ashore and escape. 43 But Julius[b] wanted to spare Paul, so he told them no. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard and make for land, 44 and the rest to try for it on planks and debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely ashore!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.