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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.
Duration: 1245 days
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Version
Psalm 111

111 Praise the Lord.

I will praise the Lord with all my heart.
    I will praise him where honest people gather for worship.

The Lord has done great things.
    All who take delight in those things think deeply about them.
What he does shows his glory and majesty.
    He will always do what is right.
The Lord causes his wonders to be remembered.
    He is kind and tender.
He provides food for those who have respect for him.
    He remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people what his power can do.
    He has given them the lands of other nations.
He is faithful and right in everything he does.
    All his rules can be trusted.
They will stand firm for ever and ever.
    They were given by the Lord.
    He is faithful and honest.
He set his people free.
    He made a covenant with them that will last forever.
    His name is holy and wonderful.

10 If you really want to become wise,
    you must begin by having respect for the Lord.
All those who follow his rules have good understanding.
    People should praise him forever.

1 Kings 2:1-11

David Gives Orders to Solomon

The time came near for David to die. So he gave orders to his son Solomon.

He said, “I’m about to die, just as everyone else on earth does. So be strong. Show how brave you are. Do everything the Lord your God requires. Live the way he wants you to. Obey his orders and commands. Keep his laws and rules. Do everything written in the Law of Moses. Then you will have success in everything you do. You will succeed everywhere you go. The Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He said, ‘Your sons must be careful about how they live. They must be faithful to me with all their heart and soul. Then you will always have a son from your family line to sit on the throne of Israel.’

“You yourself know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me. You know that he killed Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether. They were the two commanders of Israel’s armies. He killed them in a time of peace. It wasn’t a time of war. Joab spilled the blood of Abner and Amasa. With that blood he stained the belt around his waist. He also stained the sandals on his feet. You are wise. So I leave him in your hands. Just don’t let him live to become an old man. Don’t let him die peacefully.

“But be kind to the sons of Barzillai from Gilead. Provide what they need. They were faithful to me when I had to run away from your brother Absalom.

“Don’t forget that Shimei, the son of Gera, is still around. He’s from Bahurim in the territory of Benjamin. Shimei cursed me bitterly. He did it on the day I went to Mahanaim. Later, he came down to welcome me at the Jordan River. At that time I made a promise in the name of the Lord. I promised Shimei, ‘I won’t put you to death with my sword.’ But now I want you to think of him as guilty. You are wise. You will know what to do to him. Don’t let him live to become an old man. Put him to death.”

10 David joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. 11 He had ruled over Israel for 40 years. He ruled for seven years in Hebron. Then he ruled for 33 years in Jerusalem.

John 4:7-26

A woman from Samaria came to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew. I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” She said this because Jews don’t have anything to do with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered her, “You do not know what God’s gift is. And you do not know who is asking you for a drink. If you did, you would have asked him. He would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you don’t have anything to get water with. The well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Our father Jacob gave us the well. He drank from it himself. So did his sons and his livestock. Are you more important than he is?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty. In fact, the water I give them will become a spring of water in them. It will flow up into eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty. And I won’t have to keep coming here to get water.”

16 He told her, “Go. Get your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands. And the man you live with now is not your husband. What you have just said is very true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our people have always worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 Jesus said, “Woman, believe me. A time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. Salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But a new time is coming. In fact, it is already here. True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. They are the kind of worshipers the Father is looking for. 24 God is spirit. His worshipers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah is coming.” Messiah means Christ. “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus said, “The one you’re talking about is the one speaking to you. I am he.”

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

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