Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 57[a]
Trust in God amid Suffering
1 For the director.[b] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David. When he fled from Saul into the cave.
2 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
for in you my soul[c] takes refuge.
I will seek shelter in the shadow of your wings
until the time of danger has passed.
3 I call out to God Most High,
to God who takes care of me.[d]
4 May he send his help from heaven to deliver me
and put to shame those who trample upon me; Selah
may God send his kindness[e] and his faithfulness.
5 I lie prostrate in the midst of lions
who are hungrily seeking human prey.
Their teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongues are razor-sharp swords.
6 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory shine over all the earth.[f]
7 They set a trap for my feet,
and I was overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they themselves fell into it. Selah
8 [g]My heart[h] is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant your praise;
9 awake, my soul!
Awake, lyre and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.[i]
10 [j]I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing your praises among the nations.
11 For your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
12 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory radiate over all the earth.
Chapter 19
Joab Reproves David. 1 Word was brought to Joab: “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 Therefore, that day’s victory was turned into one of mourning for the entire army when the troops heard the report: “The king is grieving for his son.”
3 The troops stole furtively into the city that day, much as soldiers steal in who are ashamed when they flee from a battle. 4 Meanwhile the king covered his face and cried out in a loud voice: “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
5 Then Joab came to the king’s house and said to him: “Today you have caused all of your officers and servants to feel ashamed, humiliating those who saved your life today, and the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines, 6 by showing love for those who hate you and hatred for those who love you.
“You have made it perfectly clear that your commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. I feel certain that if Absalom were still alive and all the rest of us were dead, then you would be pleased. 7 Therefore, get up, come out, and reassure your servants. I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, not one man will be left with you by nightfall, and that will be worse for you than all the calamities you have endured from your youth until now.”
8 On hearing these words, the king arose and took his seat at the gate. When it was announced to the troops: “The king is sitting at the gate,” they all assembled there before him.
The Reconciliation. Meanwhile all the Israelites had fled to their homes. 9 However, throughout all the tribes of Israel, there was great dissension, and the people were arguing among themselves, saying: “The king delivered us from the clutches of our enemies and rescued us from the hands of the Philistines. But now he has fled from the country to escape from Absalom. 10 However, Absalom, whom we anointed to reign over us, has fallen in battle. Why, then, does no one offer the suggestion that we should restore the king to his palace?”
11 When King David learned of the debate that was ensuing throughout Israel, he sent this message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Say to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be the last to bring back the king to his palace? 12 You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. Why then should you be the last to bring the king home?’
13 “And say to Amasa: ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh?[a] May God deal with me in the most severe way possible if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab.’ ” 14 With those words, David won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man, and they sent this message to the king: “Return, both you and all who serve you.”
15 David and Shimei. When the king on his return reached the Jordan, the men of Judah came to Gilgal to greet him and escort him across the river. 16 Shimei, the son of Gera the Benjaminite, from Horonaim, hurried down with the men of Judah to welcome King David.
17 Accompanying Shimei were one thousand men from Benjamin. Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, together with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, hastened to the Jordan ahead of the king. 18 They crossed at the ford to transport the king’s household and to do whatever the king requested.
When Shimei, the son of Gera, crossed the Jordan, he threw himself down before the king,
35 Jesus answered them,
“I am[a] the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
36 But I said to you that you have seen me
and yet you do not believe.
37 All that the Father gives me
will come to me,
and anyone who comes to me
I will never turn away.
38 For I have come down from heaven
not to do my own will
but the will of him who sent me.
39 “And this is the will of him who sent me:
that I should lose nothing
of all that he has given me,
but that I should raise it up
on the last day.
40 This indeed is the will of my Father:
that all who see the Son
and believe in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise them up
on the last day.”
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