Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 130

A pilgrimage song.

Jonathan and David’s friendship

20 David fled from the camps at Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he wants me dead?”

² Jonathan said to him, “No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn’t do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn’t true!”

³ But David solemnly promised in response, “Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, ‘Jonathan must not learn about this or he’ll be upset.’^[a] But I promise you—on the Lord’s life and yours!—that I am this close to death!”

⁴ “What do you want me to do?” Jonathan said to David. “I’ll do it.”

⁵ “Okay, listen,” David answered Jonathan. “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I’m supposed to sit with the king at the feast. Instead, let me go and I’ll hide in the field until nighttime.^{[b] 6} If your father takes note of my absence, tell him, ‘David begged my permission to run down to his hometown Bethlehem, because there is an annual sacrifice there for his whole family.’ ⁷ If Saul says ‘Fine,’ then I, your servant, am safe. But if he loses his temper, then you’ll know for certain that he intends to harm me. ⁸ So be loyal to your servant, because you’ve brought your servant into a sacred covenant^[c] with you. If I’m guilty, then kill me yourself; just don’t take me back to your father.”

⁹ “Enough!” Jonathan replied. “If I can determine for certain that my father intends to harm you, of course I’ll tell you!”

¹⁰ “Who will tell me if your father responds harshly?” David asked Jonathan.

¹¹ “Come on,” Jonathan said to David. “Let’s go into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. ¹² Then Jonathan told David, “I pledge by the Lord God of Israel that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or on the third day. If he seems favorable toward David, I will definitely send word and make sure you know. ¹³ But if my father intends to harm you, then may the Lord deal harshly with me, Jonathan, and worse still if I don’t tell you right away so that you can escape safely. May the Lord be with you as he once was with my father. ¹⁴ If I remain alive, be loyal to me.^[d] But if I die, ¹⁵ don’t ever stop being loyal to my household. Once the Lord has eliminated all of David’s enemies from the earth, ¹⁶ if Jonathan’s name is also eliminated, then the Lord will seek retribution from David!”^[e]

¹⁷ So Jonathan again made a pledge to David^[f] because he loved David as much as himself. ¹⁸ “Tomorrow is the festival of the new moon,” Jonathan told David. “You will be missed because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ The day after tomorrow, go all the way to the spot where you hid on the day of the incident, and stay close to that mound.^{[g] 20} On the third day I will shoot an arrow to the side of the mound as if aiming at a target.^{[h] 21} Then I’ll send the servant boy, saying, ‘Go retrieve the arrow.’ If I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrow is on this side of you. Get it!’ then you can come out because it will be safe for you. There won’t be any trouble—I make a pledge on the Lord’s life. ²² But if I yell to the young man, ‘Hey! The arrow is past you,’ then run for it, because the Lord has sent you away. ²³ Either way, the Lord is witness^[i] between us forever regarding the promise we made to each other.” ²⁴ So David hid himself in the field.

When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. ²⁵ He took his customary seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite him^[j] while Abner sat beside Saul. David’s seat was empty.

Encouragement to give generously

8 Brothers and sisters, we want to let you know about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia. ² While they were being tested by many problems, their extra amount of happiness and their extreme poverty resulted in a surplus of rich generosity. ³ I assure you that they gave what they could afford and even more than they could afford, and they did it voluntarily. ⁴ They urgently begged us for the privilege^[a] of sharing in this service for the saints. ⁵ They even exceeded our expectations, because they gave themselves to the Lord first and to us, consistent with God’s will. ⁶ As a result, we challenged Titus to finish this work of grace with you the way he had started it.

⁷ Be the best in this work of grace in the same way that you are the best in everything, such as faith, speech, knowledge, total commitment, and the love we inspired in you.