Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is next to the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the three [mighty men] broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was next to the gate, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it; he poured it out to the Lord [as an offering]; ¹⁹ and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this thing! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁵ He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation. ¹⁶ For ^[a]by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. ¹⁷ And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]^{(A) 18} He is also the head [the life-source and leader] of the body, the ^[b]church; and He is the beginning, ^[c]the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place [He will stand supreme and be preeminent] in everything.^{(B) 19} For it pleased the Father for all the fullness [of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son), ²⁰ and through [the intervention of] the Son to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace [with believers] through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say,] whether things on earth or things in heaven.

²¹ And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things, ²² yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His ^[d]physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ [and He will do this] if you continue in the faith, well-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the [confident] hope [that is a result] of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^[e]in all creation under heaven, and of which [gospel] I, Paul, was made a minister.