Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
26 When Uriah’s(A) wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him.[a] 27 When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.(B)
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance
12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.(C) When he arrived, he said to him:
There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up, living with him and his children. It shared his meager food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.[b]
5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”(D)
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,(E) and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms,[c] and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing what I consider[d] evil?(F) You struck down Uriah(G) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.(H) 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house(I) because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.’
11 “This is what the Lord says,(J) ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another[e] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.[f] 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”[g]
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”(K)
Then Nathan replied to David, “The Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.(L)
Psalm 51
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.(A)
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to Your faithful love;
according to Your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.(B)
2 Wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.(C)
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.(D)
4 Against You—You alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in Your sight.(E)
So You are right when You pass sentence;
You are blameless when You judge.(F)
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.(G)
6 Surely You desire integrity in the inner self,
and You teach me wisdom deep within.(H)
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.(I)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones You have crushed rejoice.(J)
9 Turn Your face away[a] from my sins
and blot out all my guilt.(K)
Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ
4 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord,(A) urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility(B) and gentleness, with patience,(C) accepting[a](D) one another in love,(E) 3 diligently keeping the unity(F) of the Spirit(G) with the peace(H) that binds us. 4 There is one body and one Spirit(I)—just as you were called to one hope[b](J) at your calling— 5 one Lord,(K) one faith,(L) one baptism, 6 one God(M) and Father(N) of all, who is above all and through all and in all.(O)
7 Now grace was given to each one of us(P) according to the measure of the Messiah’s gift. 8 For it says:
9 But what does “He ascended” mean except that He[e] descended to the lower parts of the earth?[f](S) 10 The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens,(T) that He might fill[g] all things.(U) 11 And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,(V) 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son,(W) growing into a mature man with a stature(X) measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching,(Y) by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head(Z)—Christ. 16 From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together(AA) by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth(AB) of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi,(A) when did You get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw[a] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food that perishes(B) but for the food that lasts for eternal life,(C) which the Son of Man(D) will give you, because God the Father(E) has set His seal of approval on Him.”
28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.
29 Jesus replied, “This is the work(F) of God—that you believe in the One He has sent.”(G)
30 “What sign then are You going to do so we may see and believe You?” they asked. “What are You going to perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna(H) in the wilderness,(I) just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”[b](J)[c]
32 Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses(K) didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”
35 “I am(L) the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me(M) will ever be hungry,(N) and no one who believes in Me(O) will ever be thirsty(P) again.
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