Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Samekh.

Ayin.

⁶ It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that ^(A)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with ^[a]musical instruments. ⁷ The women ^(B)sang as they ^[b]played, and said,

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this saying ^[c]displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now ^(E)what more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

¹⁰ Now it came about on the next day that ^(F)an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and ^(G)he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, ^[d](H)as usual; and ^[e](I)a spear was in Saul’s hand. ^11 (J)Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will ^[f]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[g]escaped from his presence twice.

¹² Now ^(K)Saul was afraid of David, ^(L)for the Lord was with him but ^(M)had departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[h]his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and ^(N)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ David was ^[i]prospering in all his ways for ^(O)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he was ^[j]prospering greatly, he dreaded him. ¹⁶ But ^(P)all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “^(Q)Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight ^(R)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but ^(S)let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸ But David said to Saul, “^(T)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 So it came about at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(U)Adriel ^(V)the Meholathite for a wife.

David Marries Saul’s Daughter

²⁰ Now ^(W)Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable ^[k]to him. ²¹ Saul thought, “I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and ^(X)that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “^(Y)For a second time you may be my son-in-law today.” ²² Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David secretly, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words ^[l]to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, ^(Z)since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?” ²⁴ The servants of Saul reported to him ^[m]according to these words which David spoke. ²⁵ Saul then said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘The king does not desire any ^(AA)dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AB)to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now ^(AC)Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ When his servants told David these words, ^[n]it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. ^[o](AD)Before the days had expired ²⁷ David rose up and went, ^(AE)he and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then ^(AF)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife. ²⁸ When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, ²⁹ then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the commanders of the Philistines ^(AG)went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David ^(AH)behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.

^13 [a]When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began ^(A)sailing along ^(B)Crete, close inshore.

Shipwreck

¹⁴ But before very long there ^(C)rushed down from ^[b]the land a violent wind, called ^[c]Euraquilo; ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along. ¹⁶ Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s ^[d]boat under control. ¹⁷ After they had hoisted it up, they used ^[e]supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might ^(D)run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the ^[f]sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along. ¹⁸ The next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, ^[g]they began to ^(E)jettison the cargo; ¹⁹ and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

^21 [h]When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “^(F)Men, you ought to have ^[i]followed my advice and not to have set sail from ^(G)Crete and ^[j]incurred this ^(H)damage and loss. ²² Yet now I urge you to ^(I)keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For this very night ^(J)an angel of the God to whom I belong and ^(K)whom I serve ^(L)stood before me, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^(M)you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you ^(N)all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore, ^(O)keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that ^[k]it will turn out exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we must ^(P)run aground on a certain ^(Q)island.”

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that ^[l]they were approaching some land. ²⁸ They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might ^(R)run aground somewhere on the ^[m]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and ^[n]wished for daybreak. ³⁰ But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down ^(S)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ^(T)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³ Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for ^(U)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” ³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and ^(V)gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ All ^(W)of them ^[o]were encouraged and they themselves also took food. ³⁷ All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six ^[p](X)persons. ³⁸ When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by ^(Y)throwing out the wheat into the sea.