Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
130 Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
3 If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning— I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
7 Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.
8 And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
20 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is mine iniquity? And what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?”
2 And he said unto him, “God forbid! Thou shalt not die. Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small but that he will show it to me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.”
3 And David swore moreover and said, “Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, ‘Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.”
4 Then said Jonathan unto David, “Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.”
5 And David said unto Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at evening.
6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me, that he might run to Bethlehem, his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’
7 If he say thus, ‘It is well,’ thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.
8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant, for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee. Notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?”
9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from thee; for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it to thee?”
10 Then said David to Jonathan, “Who shall tell me? Or what if thy father answer thee roughly?”
11 And Jonathan said unto David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” And they went out both of them into the field.
12 And Jonathan said unto David, “By the Lord the God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee and show it to thee,
13 the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it to thee and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and the Lord be with thee, as He hath been with my father.
14 And thou shalt not only show me the kindness of the Lord while yet I live, that I die not,
15 but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever — no, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.”
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”
17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty.
19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
21 And behold, I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say unto the lad, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee; take them,’ then come thou, for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as the Lord liveth.
22 But if I say thus unto the young man, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond thee,’ go thy way; for the Lord hath sent thee away.
23 And concerning the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be witness between thee and me for ever.”
24 So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon had come, the king sat down to eat meat.
25 And the king sat upon his seat as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.
8 Moreover, brethren, we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:
2 how in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing to give of themselves,
4 praying us with earnest entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of ministering to the saints.
5 And this they did, not as we had hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God,
6 insomuch that we urged Titus that, as he had begun, so he would finish in you the same grace also.
7 Therefore as ye abound in everything — in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us — see that ye abound in this grace also.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.