Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David Takes Bathsheba^(A)

11 In the spring, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, his mercenaries, and Israel’s army ⌞to war⌟. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem.

² Now, when evening came, David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the royal palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing, and she was very pretty. ³ David sent someone to ask about the woman. The man said, “She’s Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ So David sent messengers and took her. She came to him, and he went to bed with her. (She had just cleansed herself after her monthly period.) Then she went home. ⁵ The woman had become pregnant. So she sent someone to tell David that she was pregnant.

⁶ Then David sent a messenger to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the troops were and how the war was going.

⁸ “Go home,” David said to Uriah, “and wash your feet.” Uriah left the royal palace, and the king sent a present to him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace among his superior’s mercenaries. He didn’t go home.

¹⁰ When they told David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David asked Uriah, “Didn’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah answered David, “The ark and ⌞the army of⌟ Israel and Judah are in temporary shelters, and my commander Joab and Your Majesty’s mercenaries are living in the field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and go to bed with my wife? I solemnly swear, as sure as you’re living, I won’t do this!”

¹² David said to Uriah, “Then stay here today, and tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ David summoned him, ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But that evening Uriah went to lie down on his bed among his superior’s mercenaries. He didn’t go home.

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is heaviest. Then abandon him so that he’ll be struck down and die.”

For the choir director; by David.

Paul Prays That God Would Strengthen Christians

¹⁴ This is the reason I kneel in the presence of the Father ¹⁵ from whom all the family in heaven and on earth receives its name. ¹⁶ I’m asking God to give you a gift from the wealth of his glory. I pray that he would give you inner strength and power through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will live in you through faith. I also pray that love may be the ground into which you sink your roots and on which you have your foundation. ¹⁸ This way, with all of God’s people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep his love is. ¹⁹ You will know Christ’s love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.

²⁰ Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. ²¹ Glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time and eternity! Amen.

Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand^(A)

6 Jesus later crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or the Sea of Tiberias). ² A large crowd followed him because they saw the miracles that he performed for the sick. ³ Jesus went up a mountain and sat with his disciples. ⁴ The time for the Jewish Passover festival was near.

⁵ As Jesus saw a large crowd coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ Jesus asked this question to test him. He already knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered, “We would need about a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”

⁸ One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother, told him, ⁹ “A boy who has five loaves of barley bread and two small fish is here. But they won’t go very far for so many people.”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

The people had plenty of grass to sit on. (There were about 5,000 men in the crowd.)

¹¹ Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same thing with the fish. All the people ate as much as they wanted.

¹² When the people were full, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather the leftover pieces so that nothing will be wasted.” ¹³ The disciples gathered the leftover pieces of bread and filled twelve baskets.

¹⁴ When the people saw the miracle Jesus performed, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵ Jesus realized that the people intended to take him by force and make him king. So he returned to the mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(B)

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went to the sea. ¹⁷ They got into a boat and started to cross the sea to the city of Capernaum. By this time it was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ A strong wind started to blow and stir up the sea.

¹⁹ After they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they became terrified.

²⁰ Jesus told them, “It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”

²¹ So they were willing to help Jesus into the boat. Immediately, the boat reached the shore where they were going.