Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Samek
Loving God’s Law
113 I despise the double-minded,
but I love your instruction.[a]
114 You are my fortress and shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Leave me, you who practice evil,
that I may observe the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me, God,[b] as you have promised,
and I will live.
Do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Support me, that I may be saved,
and I will carry out your statutes consistently.
118 You reject all who wander from your statutes,
since their deceitfulness is vain.
119 You remove[c] all the wicked of the earth like[d] dross;
therefore I love your decrees.
120 My flesh trembles out of fear of you,
and I am in awe of[e] your judgments.
Ayin
Praying for God’s Deliverance
121 I have acted with justice and righteousness;
do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Back up your servant in a positive way;
do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes fail as I look[f] for your salvation
and for your righteous promise.
124 Act toward your servant consistent with your gracious love,
and teach me your statutes.
125 Since I am your servant, give me understanding,
so I will know your decrees.
126 It is time for the Lord to act,
since they have violated your instruction.[g]
127 I truly love your commands more than gold,
including fine gold.
128 I truly consider all of your precepts—all of them—to be just,
while I despise every false way.
Saul’s Jealousy of David
6 When David returned from defeating the Philistine, as they were entering the city, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul, singing and dancing as they joyously played tambourines and lyres. 7 As the women sang and played, they said,
“Saul has struck down his thousands
but David his ten thousands.”
8 Saul was very angry and he did not like what the women sang. He told himself,[a] “They have attributed tens of thousands to David, but to me they have attributed thousands. What else can he have but the kingdom?” 9 From then on Saul kept his eye on David.[b]
10 The next day, while David was playing the lyre[c] as he had before, the evil spirit from the Lord attacked Saul, and he began to rave[d] inside the house with a spear in his hand. 11 Saul hurled it, thinking,[e] “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from him twice.
12 Now Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and had departed from Saul. 13 Saul removed David[f] from his presence and made him an officer over a division of soldiers.[g] So David led the troops in battle.[h] 14 David was successful in all that he did, for the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw that David[i] was highly successful, he feared him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David because he led them in battle.[j]
David Marries Saul’s Daughter
17 Saul told David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife. Just be an excellent soldier for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” Now Saul told himself,[k] “I won’t harm him myself.[l] Instead, I’ll let the Philistines harm him.”[m]
18 David told Saul, “Who am I and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” 19 And when the time came to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given as a wife to Adriel of Meholah.
20 Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. Saul was informed of this and he liked the idea.[n] 21 Saul told himself,[o] “I’ll give her to him and she can be a snare to him and the Philistines will harm him.”[p] So Saul told David, “For a second time you can be my son-in-law today.”
22 Saul commanded his officials,[q] “Speak with David privately and say, ‘Look, the king delights in you, and all his officials[r] love you. Now become the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 Saul’s officials[s] delivered this message to David,[t] and he[u] asked, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law an unimportant thing to you? I’m a poor and unimportant man.”
24 Saul’s officials[v] reported to him: “This is what David said.”
25 Saul said, “This is what you are to tell David, ‘The king desires no bride price except 100 Philistine foreskins to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought he would cause David to die at the hand of the Philistines. 26 When his officials[w] delivered this message to David, David decided it would be a good thing to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the time was up, 27 David got up, went out with his men, and struck down 200 Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and gave them all to the king so he could become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. 28 As Saul continued to observe, he realized that the Lord was with David and that Saul’s daughter Michal loved him. 29 Then Saul was even more afraid of David, and Saul was David’s enemy from that time on.[x]
30 The Philistine commanders would go out to fight[y] and whenever they did, David was more successful than any of Saul’s other leaders.[z] His name was held in high esteem.
13 When a gentle breeze began to blow from the south, they thought they could make it to Phoenix,[a] so they hoisted anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete.
14 But it was not long before a violent wind (called a northeaster) swept down from the island.[b] 15 The ship was caught so that it couldn’t face the wind, and we gave up and were swept along. 16 As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda,[c] we barely managed to secure the ship’s lifeboat. 17 The ship’s crew[d] pulled it up on deck and used ropes to brace the ship. Fearing that they would hit the large sandbank near Libya,[e] they lowered the sail and drifted along. 18 The next day, because we were being tossed so violently by the storm, they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day they threw the ship’s equipment overboard with their own hands. 20 For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were to be seen, and the storm continued to rage until at last all hope of our being saved vanished.
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among his shipmates[f] and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. You would have avoided this hardship and damage. 22 But now I urge you to have courage, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss[g] of the ship. 23 For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by me 24 and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of[h] everyone who is sailing with you.’ 25 So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me. 26 However, we will have to run aground on some island.”
The Shipwreck
27 It was the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors suspected that land was near. 28 After taking soundings, they found the depth to be twenty fathoms. A little later, they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms. 29 Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and began praying for daylight to come. 30 Meanwhile, the sailors had begun trying to escape from the ship. They lowered the lifeboat into the sea and pretended that they were going to lay out the anchors from the bow. 31 Paul told the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain onboard, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and set it adrift.
33 Right up to daybreak Paul kept urging all of them to eat something. He said, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, not eating anything. 34 So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as[i] a hair from his head.” 35 After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat. 36 Everyone was encouraged and had something to eat. 37 There were 276[j] of us on the ship. 38 After they had eaten all they wanted, they began to lighten the ship by dumping its cargo of[k] wheat into the sea.
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