Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for Help

130 O Lord, I have cried to You out of the deep places. ² Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears hear the voice of my prayers. ³ If you, Lord, should write down our sins, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But You are the One Who forgives, so You are honored with fear.

⁵ I wait for the Lord. My soul waits and I hope in His Word. ⁶ My soul waits for the Lord more than one who watches for the morning; yes, more than one who watches for the morning. ⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord! For there is loving-kindness with the Lord. With Him we are saved for sure. ⁸ And He will save Israel from all their sins.

¹⁸ Now David ran away from Saul and came to Samuel at Ramah. He told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹ Saul was told, “See, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ So Saul sent men to take David. But when they saw the men of God saying what was going to happen, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon the men sent by Saul. And they began saying what was going to happen also. ²¹ When Saul heard this, he sent other men, and they began saying what was going to happen. So Saul sent men for the third time, and they began saying what was going to happen. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah, and came as far as the large well in Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “See, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he went to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also. As he traveled he said what would happen, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ He took off his clothes and said what was going to happen in front of Samuel. He lay down without clothing all that day and all that night. So they say, “Is Saul among those who say what will happen?”

His Love for the Corinthians

² Receive us into your hearts. We have done no wrong to anyone. We have not led anyone in the wrong way. We have not used anyone for our good. ³ I do not say this to tell you that you are wrong. As I have said before, you have a place in our hearts and always will. If we live or die, we will be together. ⁴ I trust you and am proud of you. You give me much comfort and joy even when I suffer.

⁵ When we arrived in the country of Macedonia, we had no rest. We had all kinds of trouble. There was fighting all around us. Our hearts were afraid. ⁶ But God gives comfort to those whose hearts are heavy. He gave us comfort when Titus came. ⁷ Not only did his coming comfort us, but the comfort you had given him made me happy also. He told us how much you wanted to see us. He said that you were sad because of my trouble and that you wanted to help me. This made me happy.

⁸ I am not sorry now if my letter made you sad. I know it made you sad, but it was only for awhile. ⁹ I am happy now. It is not because you were hurt by my letter, but because it turned you from sin to God. God used it and you were not hurt by what we did. ¹⁰ The sorrow that God uses makes people sorry for their sin and leads them to turn from sin so they can be saved from the punishment of sin. We should be happy for that kind of sorrow, but the sorrow of this world brings death. ¹¹ See how this sorrow God allowed you to have has worked in you. You had a desire to be free of that sin I wrote about. You were angry about it. You were afraid. You wanted to do something about it. In every way you did what you could to make it right. ¹² I sent this. It was not written only because of the man who did the wrong or because of the one who suffered. ¹³ All this has given us comfort. More than this, we are happy for the joy Titus has. His spirit has been made stronger by all of you. ¹⁴ I told him how proud I was of you. You did not make me ashamed. What we said to Titus proved to be true. ¹⁵ He loves you all the more. He remembers how all of you were ready to obey and how you respected him. ¹⁶ I am happy that I can have complete trust in you.