Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David and Bathsheba

11 ^(A)Now it happened ^[a](B)in the spring, at the time when ^[b]kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and ^(C)besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

² Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on ^(D)the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³ So David sent and ^[c]inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not ^(E)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^(F)Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and ^(G)he lay with her; ^(H)and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman became pregnant; and she sent and told David, and said, “^(I)I am pregnant.”

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, ^(J)David asked concerning the ^[d]state of Joab and the ^[e]state of the people and the ^[f]state of the war. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and ^(K)wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king went out after him. ⁹ But Uriah lay down ^(L)at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ Then they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” And David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ And Uriah said to David, “^(M)The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in ^[g]booths, and my lord Joab and ^(N)the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uriah, “^(O)Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you out.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the ^[h]next. ¹³ Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he ^(P)made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed ^(Q)with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ Now it happened in the morning that David ^(R)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ^15 (S)And he had written in the letter, saying, “^[i]Place Uriah in the front line of the ^[j]fiercest battle and withdraw from him, ^(T)so that he may be struck down and die.”

There Is No One Who Does Good

For the choir director. Of David.

Prayer for Spiritual Power

¹⁴ For this reason I ^(A)bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom ^[a]every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would give you, according to ^(B)the riches of His glory, to be ^(C)strengthened with power through His Spirit in ^(D)the inner man, ¹⁷ so that ^(E)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being firmly ^(F)rooted and ^(G)grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with ^(H)all the ^[b]saints what is ^(I)the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know ^(J)the love of Christ which ^(K)surpasses knowledge, that you may be ^(L)filled up to all the ^(M)fullness of God.

^20 (N)Now to Him who is ^(O)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, ^(P)according to the power that works within us, ^21 (Q)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ^[c]forever and ever. Amen.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

6 After these things ^(A)Jesus went away to the other side of ^(B)the Sea of Galilee (or ^(C)Tiberias). ² Now a large crowd was following Him, because they were seeing the ^[a](D)signs which He was doing on those who were sick. ³ Then ^(E)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He was sitting down with His disciples. ⁴ Now ^(F)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to ^(G)Philip, “Where should we buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶ And this He was saying to ^(H)test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. ^7 (I)Philip answered Him, “^(J)Two hundred ^[b]denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” ⁸ One of His ^(K)disciples, ^(L)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two ^(M)fish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people ^[c]sit down.” Now there was ^(N)much grass in the place. So the men ^[d]sat down, in number about ^(O)five thousand. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and ^(P)having given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated; likewise also of the ^(Q)fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² And when they were filled, He *said to His ^(R)disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and filled twelve ^(S)baskets with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Therefore when the people saw the ^[e]sign which He had done, they were saying, “This is truly the ^(T)Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea

¹⁵ So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force ^(U)to make Him king, ^(V)withdrew again to ^(W)the mountain by Himself alone.

¹⁶ Now when evening came, His ^(X)disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷ and after getting into a boat, they began to cross the sea ^(Y)to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸ And the sea *was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹ Then, when they had rowed about ^[f]twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. ²⁰ But He *said to them, ^[g]“It is I; ^[h](Z)do not be afraid.” ²¹ So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.