Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
26 Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead. She mourned over him. 27 When her time of sadness was over, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife. And she had a son by him. But the Lord wasn’t pleased with what David had done.
Nathan Tells David He Has Sinned
12 The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. When Nathan came to him, he said, “Two men lived in the same town. One was rich. The other was poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle. 3 But all the poor man had was one little female lamb. He had bought it. He raised it. It grew up with him and his children. It shared his food. It drank from his cup. It even slept in his arms. It was just like a daughter to him.
4 “One day a traveler came to the rich man. The rich man wanted to prepare a meal for him. But he didn’t want to kill one of his own sheep or cattle. Instead, he took the little female lamb that belonged to the poor man. Then the rich man cooked it for the traveler who had come to him.”
5 David was very angry with the rich man. He said to Nathan, “The man who did this must die! And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. 6 The man must pay back four times as much as that lamb was worth. How could he do such a thing? And he wasn’t even sorry he had done it.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I anointed you king over Israel. I saved you from Saul. 8 I gave you everything that belonged to your master Saul. I even put his wives into your arms. I made you king over all the people of Israel and Judah. And if all of that had not been enough for you, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you turn your back on what I told you to do? You did what is evil in my sight. You made sure that Uriah, the Hittite, would be killed in battle. You took his wife to be your own. You let the men of Ammon kill him with their swords. 10 So time after time members of your own royal house will be killed with swords. That’s because you turned your back on me. You took the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be your own.’
11 “The Lord also says, ‘I am going to bring trouble on you. It will come from your own family. I will take your wives away. Your own eyes will see it. I will give your wives to a man who is close to you. He will sleep with them in the middle of the day. 12 You committed your sins in secret. But I will make sure that the man commits his sin in the middle of the day. Everyone in Israel will see it.’ ”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You aren’t going to die.
For the director of music. A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him. Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
51 God, have mercy on me
according to your faithful love.
Because your love is so tender and kind,
wipe out my lawless acts.
2 Wash away all the evil things I’ve done.
Make me pure from my sin.
3 I know the lawless acts I’ve committed.
I can’t forget my sin.
4 You are the one I’ve really sinned against.
I’ve done what is evil in your sight.
So you are right when you sentence me.
You are fair when you judge me.
5 I know I’ve been a sinner ever since I was born.
I’ve been a sinner ever since my mother became pregnant with me.
6 I know that you wanted faithfulness even when I was in my mother’s body.
You taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Sprinkle me with hyssop, then I will be clean.
Wash me, then I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear you say, “Your sins are forgiven.”
That will bring me joy and gladness.
Let the body you have broken be glad.
9 Take away all my sins.
Wipe away all the evil things I’ve done.
10 God, create a pure heart in me.
Give me a new spirit that is faithful to you.
11 Don’t send me away from you.
Don’t take your Holy Spirit away from me.
12 Give me back the joy that comes from being saved by you.
Give me a spirit that obeys you so that I will keep going.
Growing Up Together in the Body of Christ
4 I am a prisoner because of the Lord. So I am asking you to live a life worthy of what God chose you for. 2 Don’t be proud at all. Be completely gentle. Be patient. Put up with one another in love. 3 The Holy Spirit makes you one in every way. So try your best to remain as one. Let peace keep you together. 4 There is one body and one Spirit. You were appointed to one hope when you were chosen. 5 There is one Lord, one faith and one baptism. 6 There is one God and Father of all. He is over everything. He is through everything. He is in everything.
7 But each one of us has received a gift of grace. These gifts are given to us by Christ. 8 That is why Scripture says,
“When he went up to his place on high,
he took many prisoners.
He gave gifts to his people.” (Psalm 68:18)
9 What does “he went up” mean? It can only mean that he also came down to the lower, earthly places. 10 The one who came down is the same one who went up. He went up higher than all the heavens. He did it in order to fill all creation. 11 So Christ himself gave the gift of the apostles to the church. He gave the prophets and those who preach the good news. And he also gave the pastors and teachers as a gift to the church. 12 He gave all these people so that they might prepare God’s people to serve. Then the body of Christ will be built up. 13 That will continue until we all become one in the faith. We will also become one in the knowledge of God’s Son. Then we will be grown up in the faith. We will receive everything that Christ has for us.
14 We will no longer be babies in the faith. We won’t be like ships tossed around by the waves. We won’t be blown here and there by every new teaching. We won’t be blown around by cleverness and tricks. Certain people use them to hide their evil plans. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love. So we will grow up in every way to become the body of Christ. Christ is the head of the body. 16 He makes the whole body grow and build itself up in love. Under the control of Christ, each part of the body does its work. It supports the other parts. In that way, the body is joined and held together.
24 The crowd realized that Jesus and his disciples were not there. So they got into boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
Jesus Is the Bread of Life
25 They found him on the other side of the lake. They asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You are not looking for me because you saw the signs I did. You are looking for me because you ate the loaves until you were full. 27 Do not work for food that spoils. Work for food that lasts forever. That is the food the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”
28 Then they asked him, “What does God want from us? What works does he want us to do?”
29 Jesus answered, “God’s work is to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign will you give us? What will you do so we can see it and believe you? 31 Long ago our people ate the manna in the desert. It is written in Scripture, ‘The Lord gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” (Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25)
32 Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven. He gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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