Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for Protection^[a]

David's Military Victories^(A)

8 Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again, defeated them, and ended their control over the land.^[a]

² Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

³ Then he defeated the king of the Syrian state of Zobah, Hadadezer son of Rehob, as Hadadezer was on his way to restore his control over the territory by the upper Euphrates River. ⁴ David captured seventeen hundred of his cavalry and twenty thousand of his foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.

⁵ When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed twenty-two thousand men. ⁶ Then he set up military camps in^[b] their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere. ⁷ David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officials and took them to Jerusalem. ⁸ He also took a great quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, cities ruled by Hadadezer.

⁹ King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated all of Hadadezer's army. ¹⁰ So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him for his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram took David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹ King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he had conquered— ¹² Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek—as well as part of the loot he had taken from Hadadezer.

^13 (B)David became even more famous when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Edomites in Salt Valley. ¹⁴ He set up military camps^[c] throughout Edom, and the people there became his subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

¹⁵ David ruled over all of Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly. ¹⁶ Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, was the commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records; ¹⁷ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the court secretary; ¹⁸ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of^[d] David's bodyguards; and David's sons were priests.

Paul's Farewell Speech to the Elders of Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus Paul sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him. ¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them, “You know how I spent the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. ¹⁹ With all humility and many tears I did my work as the Lord's servant during the hard times that came to me because of the plots of some Jews. ²⁰ You know that I did not hold back anything that would be of help to you as I preached and taught in public and in your homes. ²¹ To Jews and Gentiles alike I gave solemn warning that they should turn from their sins to God and believe in our Lord Jesus. ²² And now, in obedience to the Holy Spirit I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit has warned me that prison and troubles wait for me. ^24 (A)But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about the grace of God.

²⁵ “I have gone about among all of you, preaching the Kingdom of God. And now I know that none of you will ever see me again. ²⁶ So I solemnly declare to you this very day: if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible. ²⁷ For I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God. ²⁸ So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God,^[a] which he made his own through the blood of his Son.^{[b] 29} I know that after I leave, fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. ³⁰ The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them. ³¹ Watch, then, and remember that with many tears, day and night, I taught every one of you for three years.

³² “And now I commend you to the care of God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the blessings God has for all his people. ³³ I have not wanted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that I have worked with these hands of mine to provide everything that my companions and I have needed. ³⁵ I have shown you in all things that by working hard in this way we must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.’”

³⁶ When Paul finished, he knelt down with them and prayed. ³⁷ They were all crying as they hugged him and kissed him good-bye. ³⁸ They were especially sad because he had said that they would never see him again. And so they went with him to the ship.