Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song of David for the day of remembrance.[a]
38 Lord, don’t criticize me when you are angry.
Don’t discipline me in anger.
2 You have hurt me.
You punished me and hurt me deeply.
3 You punished me severely, so my whole body is sore.
I sinned, and now all my bones hurt.
4 My guilt is like a heavy burden.
I am sinking beneath its weight.
5 I did a foolish thing,
and now I have infected sores that stink.
6 I am bent and bowed down.
I am depressed all day long.
7 I am burning with fever,
and my whole body hurts.
8 I hurt so much I cannot feel anything.
My pounding heart makes me scream!
9 My Lord, you heard my groaning.
You can hear my sighs.
10 My heart is pounding.
My strength is gone, and I am going blind.[b]
11 Because of my sickness,
my friends and neighbors will not visit me;
my family will not come near me.
12 My enemies say bad things about me.
They are spreading lies and rumors.
They talk about me all the time.
13 But I am like a deaf man and cannot hear.
I am like someone who cannot speak.
14 I am like those who cannot hear what people are saying about them.
I cannot answer to prove my enemies wrong.
15 Lord, you must defend me.
Lord my God, you must speak for me.
16 That’s why I prayed, “Don’t let my enemies smile at my pain.
Full of pride, they will laugh if I stumble and fall.”
17 I know I am guilty of doing wrong.
I cannot forget my pain.
18 Lord, I told you about the evil I have done.
I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my enemies are alive and healthy,
and they have told many lies.
20 I did nothing but good,
and they paid me back with evil.
I try to do what is right,
but that only makes them turn against me.
21 Lord, don’t leave me.
My God, stay close to me.
22 Come quickly and help me.
My Lord, you are the one who saves me.
David Shames Saul
24 After Saul had chased the Philistines away, people told him, “David is in the desert area near En Gedi.”
2 So Saul chose 3000 men from all over Israel and began searching for David and his men. They looked near Wild Goat Rocks. 3 Saul came to some sheep pens beside the road. There was a cave near there, so Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were deep inside that same cave. 4 David’s men told him, “This is day the Lord told you about when he said, ‘I will give your enemy to you, and you can do whatever you want to him.’”
So David crawled closer and closer to Saul and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Saul didn’t notice what happened. 5 Later, David felt bad about what he did. 6 He said to his men, “I pray the Lord never lets me do anything like that to my master again. I must not do anything against Saul, because he is the Lord’s chosen king.[a]” 7 David said these things to stop his men. He would not let his men hurt Saul.
Saul left the cave and went on his way. 8 Later, David came out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!”
Saul looked back. David bowed with his face to the ground to show his respect. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen when people say, ‘David plans to hurt you’? 10 You can see that with your own eyes that is not true. The Lord put you within my grasp today in the cave, but I refused to kill you. I was merciful to you. I said, ‘I won’t hurt my master. Saul is the Lord’s chosen king.’ 11 Look at this piece of cloth in my hand. I cut off the corner of your robe. I could have killed you, but I didn’t. Now, I want you to understand this. I want you to know that I am not planning anything against you. I did nothing wrong to you, but you are hunting me and trying to kill me. 12 Let the Lord be the judge. I hope the Lord will punish you for the wrong you did to me, but I won’t fight you myself. 13 There is an old saying:
‘Bad things come from bad people.’
“I haven’t done anything bad, and I won’t hurt you. 14 Who are you chasing? Did the king of Israel bring an army to chase a single flea or a dying dog? 15 Let the Lord be the judge. Let him decide between you and me. He will support me and show that I am right. He will save me from you.”
16 When David finished speaking, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul lifted his voice and began to cry. 17 He said, “You are right, and I am wrong. You were good to me, even though I have been bad to you. 18 You yourself said it when you told me about the good things you did. The Lord put my life in your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 This shows that you are not my enemy. A man doesn’t catch his enemy, and then just let him go. He doesn’t do good things for his enemy. May the Lord reward you for being good to me today. 20 Now, I know that you will become the new king. You will rule the kingdom of Israel. 21 Now make a promise to me with an oath using the Lord’s name. Promise that you will not kill my descendants, even after I die. Promise me that you will not erase my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David made a promise to Saul. He promised that he would not kill Saul’s family. Then Saul went back home. David and his men went back up to the fort.
The Lord’s Supper
17 In the things I tell you now I don’t praise you. Your meetings hurt you more than they help you. 18 First, I hear that when you meet together as a church you are divided. And this is not hard to believe 19 because of your idea that you must have separate groups to show who the real believers are!
20 When you all come together, it is not really the Lord’s Supper[a] you are eating. 21 I say this because when you eat, each one eats without waiting for the others. Some people don’t get enough to eat or drink, while others have too much.[b] 22 You can eat and drink in your own homes. It seems that you think God’s church is not important. You embarrass those who are poor. What can I say? Should I praise you? No, I cannot praise you for this.
27 So if you eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in a way that does not fit its meaning, you are sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 Before you eat the bread and drink the cup, you should examine your own attitude. 29 If you eat and drink without paying attention to those who are the Lord’s body, your eating and drinking will cause you to be judged guilty. 30 That is why many in your group are sick and weak, and many have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves in the right way, then God would not judge us. 32 But when the Lord judges us, he punishes us to show us the right way. He does this so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International