Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ס SAMEK

ע AYIN

⁶ Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the ^[a]Philistine, that ^(A)the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women ^(B)sang as they danced, and said:

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying ^(D)displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but ^(E)the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul ^[b]eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰ And it happened on the next day that ^(F)the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, ^(G)and he prophesied inside the house. So David ^(H)played music with his hand, as at other times; ^(I)but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(J)cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

¹² Now Saul was ^(K)afraid of David, because ^(L)the Lord was with him, but had ^(M)departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[c]his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and ^(N)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and ^(O)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(P)all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; ^(Q)I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight ^(R)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, ^(S)“Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸ So David said to Saul, ^(T)“Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹ But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(U)Adriel the ^(V)Meholathite as a wife.

^20 (W)Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may ^[d]be a snare to him, and that ^(X)the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ^(Y)“You shall be my son-in-law today.”

²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³ So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, ^[e]“In this manner David spoke.”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(Z)dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take ^(AA)vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul ^(AB)thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now ^(AC)the days had not expired; ²⁷ therefore David arose and went, he and ^(AD)his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And ^(AE)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

²⁸ Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; ²⁹ and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy ^[f]continually. ³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines ^(AF)went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David ^(AG)behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

In the Tempest

¹³ When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. ¹⁴ But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called ^[a]Euroclydon. ¹⁵ So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her ^[b]drive. ¹⁶ And running under the shelter of an island called ^[c]Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. ¹⁷ When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the ^[d]Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven. ¹⁸ And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. ¹⁹ On the third day ^(A)we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. ²⁰ Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

²¹ But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. ²² And now I urge you to take ^[e]heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ^23 (B)For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and ^(C)whom I serve, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore take heart, men, ^(D)for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. ²⁶ However, ^(E)we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷ Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. ²⁸ And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and ^[f]prayed for day to come. ³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

³³ And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, ^(F)since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” ³⁵ And when he had said these things, he took bread and ^(G)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. ³⁶ Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. ³⁷ And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six ^(H)persons on the ship. ³⁸ So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.