Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁶ When Uriah’s^(A) wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him.^{[a] 27} When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.^(B)

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.^(C) When he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very large flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.^[b]

⁵ David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”^(D)

⁷ Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,^(E) and I rescued you from Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms,^[c] and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider^[d] evil?^(F) You struck down Uriah^(G) the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.^{(H) 10} Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house^(I) because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says,^(J) ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another^[e] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight.^{[f] 12} You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”^[g]

¹³ David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”^(K)

Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.^(L)

Psalm 51

A Prayer for Restoration

For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.^(A)

Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ

4 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord,^(A) urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, ² with all humility^(B) and gentleness, with patience,^(C) bearing^(D) with one another in love,^{(E) 3} making every effort to keep the unity^(F) of the Spirit^(G) through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit^(H)—just as you were called to one hope^[a](I) at your calling— ⁵ one Lord,^(J) one faith,^(K) one baptism, ⁶ one God^(L) and Father^(M) of all, who is above all and through all and in all.^(N)

⁷ Now grace was given to each one of us^(O) according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ For it says:

⁹ But what does “he ascended” mean except that he^[c] also descended to the lower parts of the earth?^{[d](R) 10} The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens,^(S) to fill all things.^{(T) 11} And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,^{(U) 13} until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son,^(V) growing into maturity with a stature^(W) measured by Christ’s fullness. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching,^(X) by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head^(Y)—Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, fitted and knit together^(Z) by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth^(AA) of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

²⁴ When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi,^(A) when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw^[a] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Don’t work for the food that perishes^(B) but for the food that lasts for eternal life,^(C) which the Son of Man^(D) will give you, because God the Father^(E) has set his seal of approval on him.”

²⁸ “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This is the work^(F) of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”^(G)

³⁰ “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna^(H) in the wilderness,^(I) just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”^[b](J)

³² Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses^(K) didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ “I am^(L) the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me^(M) will ever be hungry,^(N) and no one who believes in me^(O) will ever be thirsty^(P) again.