Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁶ When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ Then after the time for mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to the palace. She became David's wife, and they had a son.

The Lord's Message for David

The Lord was angry because of what David had done, 12 ^1 (A) and he sent Nathan the prophet to tell this story to David:

A rich man and a poor man lived in the same town. ² The rich man owned a lot of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had only one little lamb that he had bought and raised. The lamb became a pet for him and his children. He even let it eat from his plate and drink from his cup and sleep on his lap. The lamb was like one of his own children.

⁴ One day someone came to visit the rich man, but the rich man didn't want to kill any of his own sheep or cattle and serve it to the visitor. So he stole the poor man's lamb and served it instead.

⁵ David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, “I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ And because he didn't have pity on the poor man, he will have to pay four times what the lamb was worth.”

⁷ Then Nathan told David:

You are that rich man! Now listen to what the Lord God of Israel says to you: “I chose you to be the king of Israel. I kept you safe from Saul ⁸ and even gave you his house and his wives. I let you rule Israel and Judah, and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much more. ⁹ Why did you disobey me and do such a horrible thing? You murdered Uriah the Hittite by letting the Ammonites kill him, so you could take his wife.

¹⁰ “Because you wouldn't obey me and took Uriah's wife for yourself, your family will never live in peace. ^11 (B) Someone from your own family will cause you a lot of trouble, and I will take your wives and give them to another man before your very eyes. He will go to bed with them while everyone looks on. ¹² What you did was in secret, but I will do this in the open for everyone in Israel to see.”

^13-14 David said, “I have disobeyed the Lord.”

“Yes, you have!” Nathan answered. “You showed you didn't care what the Lord wanted.^[a] He has forgiven you, and you won't die. But your newborn son will.”

(For the music leader. A psalm by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David had been with Bathsheba.)

A Prayer for Forgiveness

Unity with Christ

4 As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. ^2 (A) Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. ³ Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. ⁴ All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people. ⁵ We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. ⁶ There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

⁷ Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us. ^8 (B) As the Scriptures say,

⁹ When it says, “he went up,” it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. ¹⁰ This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so he would fill the whole universe.

¹¹ Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, ¹² so his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. ¹³ This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.^[a]

¹⁴ We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. ¹⁵ Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head ^16 (C) of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.

²⁴ They saw that Jesus and his disciples had left. Then they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. ²⁵ They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles,^[a] but because you ate all the food you wanted. ^27 (A) Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

²⁸ “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

²⁹ Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”

³⁰ They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do? ^31 (B) For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna^[b] to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³² Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”

³⁴ The people said, “Sir, give us this bread and don't ever stop!”

³⁵ Jesus replied:

I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.