Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God’s chest is brought to Jerusalem

6 Once again David assembled the select warriors of Israel, thirty thousand strong. ² David and all the troops who were with him set out for Baalah, which is Kiriath-jearim of Judah,^[a] to bring God’s chest up from there—the chest that is called by the name^[b] of the Lord of heavenly forces, who sits enthroned on the winged creatures. ³ They loaded God’s chest on a new cart and carried it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were driving the new cart. ^4 [c] Uzzah was beside God’s chest while Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ Meanwhile, David and the entire house of Israel celebrated in the Lord’s presence with all their strength, with songs,^[d] zithers, harps, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.

¹² King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and everything he has because of God’s chest being there.”^[a] So David went and brought God’s chest up from Obed-edom’s house to David’s City with celebration. ¹³ Whenever those bearing the chest advanced six steps, David sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. ¹⁴ David, dressed in a linen priestly vest,^[b] danced with all his strength before the Lord. ¹⁵ This is how David and the entire house of Israel brought up the Lord’s chest with shouts and trumpet blasts.

¹⁶ As the Lord’s chest entered David’s City, Saul’s daughter Michal was watching from a window. She saw King David jumping and dancing before the Lord, and she lost all respect for him.^[c]

¹⁷ The Lord’s chest was brought in and put in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered entirely burned offerings in the Lord’s presence in addition to well-being sacrifices. ¹⁸ When David finished offering the entirely burned offerings and the well-being sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of heavenly forces. ¹⁹ He distributed food among all the people of Israel—to the whole crowd, male and female—each receiving a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. Then all the people went back to their homes.

Psalm 24

A psalm of David.

The believers’ blessings

³ Bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing that comes from heaven. ⁴ God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God’s presence before the creation of the world. ⁵ God destined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ because of his love. This was according to his goodwill and plan ⁶ and to honor his glorious grace that he has given to us freely through the Son whom he loves. ⁷ We have been ransomed through his Son’s blood, and we have forgiveness for our failures based on his overflowing grace, ⁸ which he poured over us with wisdom and understanding. ⁹ God revealed his hidden design^[a] to us, which is according to his goodwill and the plan that he intended to accomplish through his Son. ¹⁰ This is what God planned for the climax of all times:^[b] to bring all things together in Christ, the things in heaven along with the things on earth. ¹¹ We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design. ¹² We are called to be an honor to God’s glory because we were the first to hope in Christ. ¹³ You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ. ¹⁴ The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.

Death of John the Baptist

¹⁴ Herod the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had become well-known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and this is why miraculous powers are at work through him.” ¹⁵ Others were saying, “He is Elijah.” Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the ancient prophets.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard these rumors, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised to life.”

¹⁷ He said this because Herod himself had arranged to have John arrested and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. Herod had married her, ¹⁸ but John told Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry your brother’s wife!” ¹⁹ So Herodias had it in for John. She wanted to kill him, but she couldn’t. ²⁰ This was because Herod respected John. He regarded him as a righteous and holy person, so he protected him. John’s words greatly confused Herod, yet he enjoyed listening to him.

²¹ Finally, the time was right. It was on one of Herod’s birthdays, when he had prepared a feast for his high-ranking officials and military officers and Galilee’s leading residents. ²² Herod’s daughter Herodias^[a] came in and danced, thrilling Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the young woman, “Ask me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ Then he swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will give to you, even as much as half of my kingdom.”

²⁴ She left the banquet hall and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”

“John the Baptist’s head,” Herodias replied.

²⁵ Hurrying back to the ruler, she made her request: “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a plate, right this minute.” ²⁶ Although the king was upset, because of his solemn pledge and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he ordered a guard to bring John’s head. The guard went to the prison, cut off John’s head, ²⁸ brought his head on a plate, and gave it to the young woman, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came and took his dead body and laid it in a tomb.