Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
David Sins with Bathsheba
11 In the spring, when the kings normally went out to war, David sent out Joab, his ·servants [officers; army], and all the Israelites. They ·destroyed [massacred; ravaged] the Ammonites and ·attacked [besieged] the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. 2 One ·evening [afternoon] David got up from his ·bed [midday rest] and walked around on the roof [C the flat roofs of Israelite houses were used for living space] of ·his palace [L the king’s house]. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful. 3 So David sent his servants to find out who she was. A servant answered, “That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite [C Hittites were foreigners, but he joined the Israelite cause].” 4 So David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to him, he ·had sexual relations [L lay] with her. (Now Bathsheba had purified herself from her ·monthly period [L uncleanness; Lev. 15:19–24].) Then she went back to her house. 5 But Bathsheba ·became pregnant [conceived] and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent a message to Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go home and ·rest [L wash your feet; C perhaps a euphemism for sex].”
So Uriah left the ·palace [L king’s house], and the king sent a gift to him. 9 But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept outside the door of the palace as all the king’s ·officers [guard; L servants] did.
10 The officers told David, “Uriah did not go home.”
Then David said to Uriah, “You came from a long trip. Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to him, “The Ark and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in ·tents [booths; C temporary shelters]. My ·master [lord; commander] Joab and his officers are camping out in the fields. ·It isn’t right for me to [L How can I…?] go home to eat and drink and ·have sexual relations [L lie] with my wife [C thus rendering himself ritually unclean and unable to go into the presence of the Ark; Lev. 15:16–18]!”
12 David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. Tomorrow I’ll send you back to the battle.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David called Uriah to come to see him, so Uriah ate and drank with David. David made Uriah drunk, but he still did not go home. That evening Uriah again slept with the king’s ·officers [guard; L servants].
14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15 In the letter David wrote, “Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is ·worst [fiercest; hardest] and ·leave him there alone [then pull back/withdraw]. Let him be ·killed in battle [L struck down and die].”
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 Fools say ·to themselves [L in their hearts],
“There is no God [C Psalm 53 largely parallels this psalm].”
·Fools are evil [L They are corrupt] and do ·terrible [detestable] things [Deut. 32:5];
there is no one who does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone ·understood [L was wise/insightful],
if anyone was ·looking to God for help [seeking God].
3 But all have ·turned [wandered] away.
Together, everyone has become ·evil [perverse].
There is no one who does anything good,
not even one [Rom. 3:10–12].
4 Don’t ·the wicked [L those who do evil] ·understand [know]?
They ·destroy [consume; L eat] my people as if they were ·eating [consuming] bread.
They do not ·ask the Lord for help [call on the Lord].
5 But the wicked are ·filled [terrified] with terror,
because God is with ·those who do what is right [the company of the righteous].
6 The wicked ·upset [confuse; frustrate] the plans of the poor,
but the Lord ·will protect them [is their refuge].
7 I pray that ·victory [salvation] will come to Israel from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple]!
May the Lord ·bring them back [restore the fortunes of his people; C perhaps at the end of the exile].
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
The Love of Christ
14 So [C Paul begins again the prayer he started in v. 1] I ·bow in prayer [kneel] before the Father 15 from whom ·every [or the whole] ·family [C a play on words, since the words “father” and “family” are related] in heaven and on earth gets its true name. 16 I ask the Father ·in his great glory [or from the treasures of his glory; or out of his glorious riches] to give you the power to be strong ·inwardly [L in the inner person] through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will ·live [make his home] in your hearts by faith and that your life will be ·strong in love and be built on love [L rooted and grounded in love]. 18 And I pray that you and all ·God’s holy people [T the saints] will have the power to ·understand [comprehend; grasp] the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is ·greater than anyone can ever know [beyond comprehension/knowledge], but I pray that you will be able to know that love. ·Then [L …so that] you can be filled with the fullness of God.
20 ·Glory be to God, who can [L Now to the One who is able to] do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine through his power working in us. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all ·time [generations], forever and ever. Amen.
More than Five Thousand Fed(A)
6 After this, Jesus went ·across [to the other side of] ·Lake [T the Sea of] Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). 2 Many people followed him because they saw the ·miracles [L signs; 2:11] he did ·to heal [L for; on behalf of] the sick. 3 Jesus went up on a ·hill [or mountain] and sat down there with his ·followers [disciples]. 4 It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast [C the annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12; John 2:13].
5 When Jesus ·looked up [L raised his eyes] and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip [C one of the twelve disciples; 1:43], “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” 6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he ·planned [was going] to do.)
7 Philip answered [L him], “·Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread [L Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough; C a denarius was a unit of money worth about a day’s wages] for each person to have only a little piece.”
8 Another one of his ·followers [disciples], Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but ·that is not enough [L what are these…?] for so many people.”
10 Jesus said, “·Tell [L Make] the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, ·thanked God [L gave thanks] for them, and ·gave [distributed] them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
12 When they ·had all had enough to eat [L were filled/satisfied], Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “Gather the leftover ·pieces of fish and bread [L pieces] so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves [2 Kin. 4:42–44; C Jesus’ miracle surpasses that of Elisha].
14 When the people saw this ·miracle [L sign] that Jesus did, they said, “He must truly be the Prophet [1:21; C probably the “prophet like Moses” of Deut. 18:15–18] who is coming into the world.”
15 Jesus knew that the people ·planned [intended; were about] to come and take him by force and make him their king, so he ·left [withdrew] and went into the ·hills [or mountains] alone.
Jesus Walks on the Water(B)
16 That evening Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] went down to ·Lake Galilee [L the lake/sea]. 17 It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet ·come to [joined] them. The ·followers [disciples] got into a boat and started across the lake to Capernaum. 18 By now a strong wind was blowing, and ·the waves on the lake were getting bigger [L the sea/lake rose up]. 19 When they had rowed the boat about ·three or four miles [L twenty-five or thirty stadia; C a stadion was about 600 feet], they saw Jesus walking on the ·water [sea; lake], coming toward the boat. The ·followers [disciples] were afraid, 20 but Jesus said to them, “It is I [or “I am”; C there could be an echo here of Ex. 3:14]. Do not be afraid.” 21 Then they ·were glad [or were willing] to take him into the boat. ·At once [Immediately] the boat came to land at the place where they wanted to go. [C The sea often stands for chaos, and God controls it.]
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