Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Samekh

Ayin

⁶ Now it happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that ^(A)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with other ^[a]musical instruments. ⁷ The women ^(B)sang as they ^[b]played, and said,

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric ^[c]displeased him; and he said, “They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the ^(E)kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

¹⁰ Now it came about on the next day that ^(F)an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(G)he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand, ^[d](H)as usual; and ^[e](I)a spear was in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ Then ^(J)Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will ^[f]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[g]escaped from his presence, twice.

¹² Now ^(K)Saul was afraid of David, ^(L)because the Lord was with him but ^(M)had left Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed him from ^[h]his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and ^(N)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ David was ^[i]successful in all his ways, for ^(O)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he was ^[j]very successful, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(P)all Israel and Judah loved David, for he would go out to battle and ^[k]return ^[l]before them.

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “^(Q)Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight ^(R)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but ^(S)let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸ But David said to Saul, “^(T)Who am I, and who is my family, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹ So it came about at the time that Merab, Saul’s daughter, was to be given to David, that she was given instead to ^(U)Adriel ^(V)the Meholathite as a wife.

David Marries Saul’s Daughter

²⁰ Now ^(W)Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they informed Saul, the thing was pleasing ^[m]to him. ²¹ For Saul thought, “I will give her to him so that she may become a trap for him, and ^(X)that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “^(Y)For a second time you may become my son-in-law, today.” ²² Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in secret, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words ^[n]to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, ^(Z)since I am only a poor man and insignificant?” ²⁴ Then Saul’s servants reported to him, saying, “^[o]These are the words David spoke.” ²⁵ Saul then said, “This is what you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(AA)dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AB)to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” But ^(AC)Saul plotted to have David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ When his servants told David these words, ^[p]it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. So ^[q](AD)before the time had expired, ²⁷ David set out and went, ^(AE)he and his men, and fatally struck two hundred men among the Philistines. Then ^(AF)David brought their foreskins, and they presented all two hundred of them to the king, so that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. ²⁸ When Saul saw and realized that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, ²⁹ then Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the commanders of the Philistines ^(AG)went to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David ^(AH)was more ^[r]successful than all the servants of Saul. So his name was held in high esteem.

^13 [a]When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began ^(A)sailing along ^(B)Crete, closer to shore.

Shipwreck

¹⁴ But before very long a violent wind, called ^[b]Euraquilo, ^(C)rushed down from ^[c]the land; ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind. ¹⁶ Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s ^[d]boat under control only with difficulty. ¹⁷ After they had hoisted it up, they used ^[e]supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might ^(D)run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the ^[f]sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way. ¹⁸ The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, ^[g]they began to ^(E)jettison the cargo; ¹⁹ and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.

^21 [h]When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “^[i](F)Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from ^(G)Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this ^(H)damage and loss. ²² And yet now I urge you to ^(I)keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For this very night ^(J)an angel of the God to whom I belong, ^(K)whom I also serve, ^(L)came to me, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^(M)you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you ^(N)all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore, ^(O)keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that ^[j]it will turn out exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we must ^(P)run aground on a certain ^(Q)island.”

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that ^[k]they were approaching some land. ²⁸ And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might ^(R)run aground somewhere on the ^[l]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and ^[m]prayed for daybreak. ³⁰ But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down ^(S)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ^(T)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³ Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing. ³⁴ Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for ^(U)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” ³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and ^(V)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ All ^(W)of them ^[n]were encouraged and they themselves also took food. ³⁷ We were 276 ^[o](X)people on the ship in all. ³⁸ When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by ^(Y)throwing the wheat out into the sea.