Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
ס (Samek)
113 I hate people with divided loyalties,[a]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I find hope in your word.
115 Turn away from me, you evil men,
so that I can observe[b] the commands of my God.[c]
116 Sustain me as you promised,[d] so that I will live.[e]
Do not disappoint me.[f]
117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.
Then I will focus[g] on your statutes continually.
118 You despise[h] all who stray from your statutes,
for such people are deceptive and unreliable.[i]
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag.[j]
Therefore I love your rules.[k]
120 My body[l] trembles[m] because I fear you;[n]
I am afraid of your judgments.
ע (Ayin)
121 I do what is fair and right.[o]
Do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee the welfare of your servant.[p]
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your deliverance,[q]
for your reliable promise to be fulfilled.[r]
124 Show your servant your loyal love.[s]
Teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant. Give me insight,
so that I can understand[t] your rules.
126 It is time for the Lord to act—
they break your law.
127 For this reason[u] I love your commands
more than gold, even purest gold.
128 For this reason I carefully follow all your precepts.[v]
I hate all deceitful actions.[w]
6 When the men[a] arrived after David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women from all the cities of Israel came out singing and dancing to meet King Saul. They were happy as they played their tambourines and three-stringed instruments.[b] 7 The women who were playing the music sang,
“Saul has struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands!”
8 This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought,[c] “They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?” 9 So Saul was keeping an eye on David from that day onward.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied[d] within his house. Now David was playing the lyre[e] as usual. There was a spear in Saul’s hand, 11 and Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll nail David to the wall!” But David escaped from him on two different occasions.
12 So Saul feared David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 Saul removed David[f] from his presence and made him a commanding officer.[g] David led the army out to battle and back.[h] 14 Now David achieved success in all he did,[i] for the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw how very successful he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he was the one leading them out to battle and back.
17 [j] Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior[k] for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”
18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father[l] in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 19 When the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she instead was given in marriage to Adriel, who was from Meholah.
20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it[m] pleased him. 21 Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and so the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law.”[n]
22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.’” 23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately to[o] David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly esteemed man!”
24 When Saul’s servants reported what David had said, 25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except 100 Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his[p] enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)
26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed[q] to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired[r] 27 when David, along with his men, went out[s] and struck down 200 Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and presented all of them to the king so that he could become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
28 When Saul realized[t] that the Lord was with David and that his[u] daughter Michal loved David,[v] 29 Saul became even more afraid of him.[w] Saul continued to be at odds with David from then on.[x] 30 [y] The leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.
13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought[a] they could carry out[b] their purpose, so they weighed anchor[c] and sailed close along the coast[d] of Crete. 14 Not long after this, a hurricane-force[e] wind called the northeaster[f] blew down from the island.[g] 15 When the ship was caught in it[h] and could not head into[i] the wind, we gave way to it and were driven[j] along. 16 As we ran under the lee of[k] a small island called Cauda,[l] we were able with difficulty to get the ship’s boat[m] under control. 17 After the crew[n] had hoisted it aboard,[o] they used supports[p] to undergird the ship. Fearing they would run aground[q] on the Syrtis,[r] they lowered the sea anchor,[s] thus letting themselves be driven along. 18 The next day, because we were violently battered by the storm,[t] they began throwing the cargo overboard,[u] 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s gear[v] overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent[w] storm continued to batter us,[x] we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.[y]
21 Since many of them had no desire to eat,[z] Paul[aa] stood up[ab] among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me[ac] and not put out to sea[ad] from Crete, thus avoiding[ae] this damage and loss. 22 And now I advise[af] you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost.[ag] 23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong[ah] and whom I serve[ai] came to me[aj] 24 and said,[ak] ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before[al] Caesar,[am] and God has graciously granted you the safety[an] of all who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God[ao] that it will be just as I have been told. 26 But we must[ap] run aground on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven[aq] across the Adriatic Sea,[ar] about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land.[as] 28 They took soundings[at] and found the water was twenty fathoms[au] deep; when they had sailed a little farther[av] they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms[aw] deep. 29 Because they were afraid[ax] that we would run aground on the rocky coast,[ay] they threw out[az] four anchors from the stern and wished[ba] for day to appear.[bb] 30 Then when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending[bc] that they were going to put out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion[bd] and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you[be] cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes[bf] of the ship’s boat and let it drift away.[bg]
33 As day was about to dawn,[bh] Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have been in suspense[bi] and have gone[bj] without food; you have eaten nothing.[bk] 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is important[bl] for your survival.[bm] For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, Paul[bn] took bread[bo] and gave thanks to God in front of them all,[bp] broke[bq] it, and began to eat. 36 So all of them were encouraged and took food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276[br] persons on the ship.)[bs] 38 When they had eaten enough to be satisfied,[bt] they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat[bu] into the sea.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.