Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Samekh

Ayin

Saul Looks at David with Suspicion

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

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this saying was ^[c]displeasing in his eyes; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now ^(E)what more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

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

¹² And ^(K)Saul was afraid of David, ^(L)for Yahweh was with him but ^(M)had turned away from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul turned him away from ^[i]his presence and appointed him as his commander of one thousand; and ^(N)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David was ^[j]prospering in all his ways, and ^(O)Yahweh was with him. ¹⁵ Then Saul saw that he was ^[k]prospering greatly, so he dreaded him. ¹⁶ But ^(P)all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in 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 man of valor for me and fight ^(R)Yahweh’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 what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹ So it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(U)Adriel ^(V)the Meholathite as a wife.

Saul’s Daughter Given to David

²⁰ And ^(W)Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. So they told Saul, and the thing was right in his eyes. ²¹ And Saul said, “I will give her to him that she may become a snare to 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 be my son-in-law today.” ²² Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David secretly, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; so now, become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words in ^[l]David’s hearing. But David said, “Is it trivial in your eyes to become the king’s son-in-law, ^(Z)since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told to him ^[m]according to these words which David spoke. ²⁵ Saul then said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘The king does not desire any ^(AA)dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AB)to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now ^(AC)Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ Then his servants told David these words, and it was right in the eyes of David to become the king’s son-in-law. ^[n](AD)So before the days had expired, ²⁷ David rose up and went, ^(AE)he and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then ^(AF)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife. ²⁸ Then Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, ²⁹ so Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the commanders of the Philistines ^(AG)went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David ^(AH)behaved himself more insightfully than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.

¹³ And when a moderate ^[a]south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began ^(A)sailing along ^[b]the shore of ^(B)Crete.

The Storm at Sea

¹⁴ But before very long there ^(C)rushed down from ^[c]the land a violent wind, called ^[d]Euraquilo; ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be carried along. ¹⁶ And running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s ^[e]boat under control. ¹⁷ After they had hoisted it up, they used ^[f]supporting cables in undergirding the ship. Fearing that they might ^(D)run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the ^[g]sea anchor and in this way let themselves be carried along. ¹⁸ And the next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, ^[h]they began to ^(E)jettison the cargo; ¹⁹ and on the third day they cast the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ And 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 gradually abandoned.

²¹ And ^[i]when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “^(F)Men, you ought to have ^[j]followed my advice to not set sail from ^(G)Crete and to ^[k]avoid this ^(H)damage and loss. ²² And now I advise you to ^(I)be cheerful, 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 and ^(K)whom I serve ^(L)stood before me, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^(M)you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you ^(N)all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore, ^(O)be cheerful, men, for I believe God that ^[l]it will turn out exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we must ^(P)run aground on some ^(Q)island.”

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was approaching them. ²⁸ And when they took soundings, they found it to be ^[m]twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be ^[n]fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ And fearing that we might ^(R)run aground somewhere on the ^[o]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and were praying 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 of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot ^[p]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 was 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 nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your ^[q]salvation, for ^(U)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” ³⁵ And having said these things, he took bread and ^(V)gave thanks to God in the presence of all. And he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ And all ^(W)of them became cheerful and they themselves also took food. ³⁷ And all of us in the ship were 276 ^[r](X)persons. ³⁸ And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by ^(Y)throwing out the wheat into the sea.