Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³⁴ Then Samuel went ^(A)to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ^(B)Gibeah of Saul. ^35 (C)And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^(D)but Samuel grieved over Saul. ^(E)And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, ^(F)“How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^(G)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(H)Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^(I)for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” ² And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ^(J)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^(K)And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” ⁴ Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ^(L)came to meet him trembling and said, ^(M)“Do you come peaceably?” ⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(N)Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they came, he looked on ^(O)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(P)“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, ^(Q)but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(R)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made ^(S)Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, ^(T)“There remains yet the youngest,^[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^(U)“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹² And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(V)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^(W)“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³ Then Samuel took ^(X)the horn of oil ^(Y)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^(Z)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

⁶ So we are always of good courage. We know that ^(A)while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷ for ^(B)we walk by faith, not ^(C)by sight. ⁸ Yes, we are of good courage, and we ^(D)would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to ^(E)please him. ¹⁰ For ^(F)we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(G)so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Therefore, knowing ^(A)the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But ^(B)what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ^12 (C)We are not commending ourselves to you again but ^(D)giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³ For if we ^(E)are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

¹⁴ For the love of Christ ^(A)controls us, because we have concluded this: that ^(B)one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵ and he died for all, ^(C)that those who live might no longer live for themselves but ^(D)for him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, ^(E)we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is ^(F)in Christ, he is ^(G)a new creation.^{[a] (H)}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The Parable of the Seed Growing

²⁶ And he said, ^(A)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^(B)he knows not how. ²⁸ The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once ^(C)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (D)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹ It is like ^(E)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

^33 (F)With many such parables he spoke ^(G)the word to them, ^(H)as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ He did not speak to them ^(I)without a parable, but ^(J)privately to his own disciples he ^(K)explained everything.