Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem^(A)

6 David again assembled all the best soldiers in Israel, 30,000 men. ² He and all the people with him left Baalah in Judah ^[a] to bring God’s ark ⌞to Jerusalem⌟. (The ark is called by the name of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned over the angels.^[b]) ³ David and his men put God’s ark on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s home on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the new cart. ⁴ They brought it from Abinadab’s home, with Ahio walking ahead of the ark. ⁵ David and the entire nation of Israel were celebrating in the Lord’s presence with all kinds of instruments made from cypress wood ^[c] and with lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums,^[d] and cymbals.

¹² King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed Edom’s home and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” Then David joyfully went to get the ark of God from Obed Edom’s house and bring it to the City of David. ¹³ When those who carried the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.

¹⁴ Wearing a linen ephod,^[a] David danced in the Lord’s presence with all his might. ¹⁵ He and the entire nation of Israel brought the ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the sounding of rams’ horns. ¹⁶ When the ark of the Lord came to the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of a window and saw King David leaping and dancing in the Lord’s presence, so she despised him.

¹⁷ The men carrying the ark set it in its place inside the tent David had put up for it. David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁸ When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁹ He also distributed to all the people—to the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women—one loaf of bread, one date cake, and one raisin cake. Then all the people went home.

A psalm by David.

God Chose Us Through Christ

³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer. ⁴ Before the creation of the world, he chose us through Christ to be holy and perfect in his presence. ⁵ Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this ⁶ so that the kindness ^[a] he had given us in his dear Son would be praised and given glory.

⁷ Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. ⁸ He poured out his kindness by giving us every kind of wisdom and insight ⁹ when he revealed the mystery of his plan to us. He had decided to do this through Christ. ¹⁰ He planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹¹ God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends. ¹² He planned all of this so that we who had already focused our hope on Christ would praise him and give him glory.

¹³ You heard and believed the message of truth, the Good News that he has saved you. In him you were sealed with the Holy Spirit whom he promised. ¹⁴ This Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive our inheritance. We have this guarantee until we are set free to belong to him. God receives praise and glory for this.

Recalling John’s Death^(A)

¹⁴ King Herod heard about Jesus, because Jesus’ name had become well-known. Some people were saying, “John the Baptizer has come back to life. That’s why he has the power to perform these miracles.” ¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah.” Still others said, “He is a prophet like one of the other prophets.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he said, “I had John’s head cut off, and he has come back to life!”

¹⁷ Herod had sent men who had arrested John, tied him up, and put him in prison. Herod did that for Herodias, whom he had married. (She used to be his brother Philip’s wife.) ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It’s not right for you to be married to your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹ So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she wasn’t allowed to do it ²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John. Herod knew that John was a fair and holy man, so he protected him. When he listened to John, he would become very disturbed, and yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹ An opportunity finally came on Herod’s birthday. Herod gave a dinner for his top officials, army officers, and the most important people of Galilee. ²² His daughter, that is, Herodias’ daughter, came in and danced. Herod and his guests were delighted with her. The king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³ He swore an oath to her: “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.”

²⁴ So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother said, “Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.”

²⁵ So the girl hurried back to the king with her request. She said, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter at once.”

²⁶ The king deeply regretted his promise. But because of his oath and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately, the king sent a guard and ordered him to bring John’s head. The guard cut off John’s head in prison. ²⁸ Then he brought the head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁹ When John’s disciples heard about this, they came for his body and laid it in a tomb.