Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

61 Hear my cry, O God! Give ear to my prayer!

² From the ends of the Earth I will cry to You. When my heart is oppressed, bring me upon the Rock that is higher than I.

³ For You have been my hope, a strong tower against the enemy.

⁴ I will dwell in Your Tabernacle forever. My trust shall be under the covering of Your wings. Selah.

⁵ For You, O God, have heard my desires. You have given a heritage to those who fear Your Name.

⁶ You shall give the king a long life. His years shall be as many ages.

⁷ He shall dwell before God forever. Prepare mercy and faithfulness, that they may preserve him.

⁸ So I will always sing praise to Your Name in performing, daily, my vows. To the excellent musician, Jeduthun: A Psalm of David

9 And David said, “Is there any man still left of the House of Saul on whom I may show mercy for Jonathan’s sake?”

² And there was, of the household of Saul, a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”

³ Then the King said, “Is there no one left of the House of Saul on whom I may show the mercy of God?” Ziba then answered the king, “Jonathan still has a son who is lame in his feet.”

⁴ Then the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo Debar.”

⁵ Then king David sent and took him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo Debar.

⁶ Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he answered, “Behold your servant.”

⁷ Then David said to him, “Do not fear. For I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore all the fields of Saul, your father, to you. And you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

⁸ And he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you would look upon such a dead dog as I am?”

⁹ Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his House.

¹⁰ “You, therefore, and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and bring in, so that your master’s son may have food to eat. And Mephibosheth, your master’s son, shall eat bread always at my table (now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants).

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so shall your servant do, so that Mephibosheth may eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.”

¹² Mephibosheth also had a young son named Micha. And all who dwelled in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.

¹³ And Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem. For he ate continually at the king’s table and was lame in both his feet.

15 Then all the tax collectors and sinners came to Him, to hear Him.

² Therefore, the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, “He receives sinners, and eats with them.”

³ Then He spoke this parable to them, saying,

⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he finds it?

⁵ “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders with joy.

⁶ “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me! For I have found my sheep which was lost!’

⁷ “I say to you that joy shall likewise be in Heaven for one sinner who converts, more than for ninety-nine righteous ones who have no need of repentance.