Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.

The Fool and God’s Response

Subjugation of Ammon and Aram^(A)

10 Sometime later, the Ammonite king died and his son Hanun succeeded him as king, ² so David told himself, “I will be loyal to Nahash’s son Hanun, since in his loyalty his father showed gracious love to me.” So David sent a delegation^[a] to Hanun to console him about his loss of^[b] his father.

But when David’s delegation arrived in Ammonite territory, ³ the Ammonite officials asked their lord Hanun, “Do you think that because David has sent a delegation of consolers to you that he is honoring your father? His delegation has arrived intending to search, scout the land, and then overthrow it, hasn’t it?” ⁴ So Hanun arrested David’s delegation, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their clothes at the waist line, and sent them away in disgrace.^[c]

⁵ When David had been informed about the incident,^[d] he sent word^[e] to them, since the men had been deeply humiliated. The king told them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

The Messiah is Above All

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s^[a] will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him^[b] as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. ¹¹ You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy ¹² and might thank the Father, who has enabled us^[c] to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. ¹³ God^[d] has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, ¹⁴ through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.