Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.

A Song of Ascents.

David and Jonathan Covenant

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and ^(A)said ^[a]to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?” ² He said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small ^[b]without disclosing it to me. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” ³ Yet David ^(B)vowed again, ^[c]saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.’ But truly ^(C)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is ^[d]hardly a step between me and death.” ⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever ^[e]you say, I will do for you.” ⁵ So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is ^(D)the new moon, and I ought ^(E)to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, ^(F)that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. ⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to ^(G)Bethlehem his city, because it is ^(H)the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’ ⁷ If he ^[f]says, ‘It is good,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, ^(I)know that he has decided on evil. ⁸ Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for ^(J)you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But ^(K)if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?” ⁹ Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I should indeed learn that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you about it?” ¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me ^[g]if your father answers you harshly?” ¹¹ Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out to the field.

¹² Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good feeling toward David, shall I not then send to you and ^[h]make it known to you? ¹³ If it please my father to do you harm, ^(L)may the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also, if I do not ^[i]make it known to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And ^(M)may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. ¹⁴ If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness of the Lord, that I may not die? ^15 (N)You shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” ¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “^(O)May the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies.” ¹⁷ Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because ^(P)he loved him as he loved his own life.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, “^(Q)Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target. ²¹ And behold, I will send the lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the lad, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come; for there is safety for you and ^[j]no harm, as the Lord lives. ²² But if I ^[k]say to the youth, ‘^(R)Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, for the Lord has sent you away. ^23 (S)As for the ^[l]agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, ^(T)the Lord is between you and me forever.”

²⁴ So David hid in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. ²⁵ The king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan rose up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side, but ^(U)David’s place was empty.

Great Generosity

8 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been ^(A)given in the churches of ^(B)Macedonia, ² that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the ^(C)wealth of their liberality. ³ For I testify that ^(D)according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, ⁴ begging us with much urging for the ^(E)favor ^[a]of participation in the ^[b](F)support of the ^[c]saints, ⁵ and this, not as we had ^[d]expected, but they first ^(G)gave themselves to the Lord and to us by ^(H)the will of God. ⁶ So we ^(I)urged ^(J)Titus that as he had previously ^(K)made a beginning, so he would also complete in you ^(L)this gracious work as well.

⁷ But just as you ^(M)abound ^(N)in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the ^[e]love we inspired in you, see that you ^(O)abound in this gracious work also.