Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Hope for the Redemption of Yahweh

A song of ascents.^[a]

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹ And it was told to Saul, “David is in Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as chief over them, then the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. ²¹ So they told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Again Saul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Then he also went to Ramah. When he came to the great cistern which was in Secu, he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone said, “Look they are in Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he went there to Naioth in Ramah and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he walked along prophesying^[a] until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

² Make room for us in your hearts^[a]. We have wronged no one, we have ruined no one, we have defrauded no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you^[b], because I have already said that you are in our hearts, so that we die together and we live together. ⁴ Great is my confidence toward you; great is my boasting on your behalf; I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.

⁵ For even when^[c] we arrived in Macedonia, our body had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—quarrels outside, fears within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted among you, because he^[d] reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸ For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret it. Even if I did regret it (I see^[e] that that letter grieved you, even though for a short time^[f]), ⁹ now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to the will of God, so that you suffered loss in no way through us. ¹⁰ For grief according to the will of God brings about a repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but worldly grief brings about death. ¹¹ For behold how much diligence this very thing, being grieved according to the will of God, has brought about in you: what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! In everything you have demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in this matter. ¹² Consequently, even if I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong or because of the one who had been wronged, but in order that your diligence on our behalf^[g] might be revealed to you before God. ¹³ Because of this we have been encouraged, and in addition to our encouragement, we rejoiced much more over the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴ For if I have boasted anything to him about you, I have not been put to shame, but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, thus also our boasting to Titus has proven to be true^[h]. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is all the more when he^[i] remembers the obedience of all of you as you welcomed him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I rejoice, because in everything I am completely confident in you.