Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Love of God’s People
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover]. Of David.
133 ·It is [L How] good and pleasant
when ·God’s people [L brothers] live together [C in unity]!
2 It is like ·perfumed [fine] oil on the head
and running down his beard [Ex. 30:22–33].
It ran down Aaron’s beard
and on to the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Mount Hermon [C in the extreme north of Israel]
falling on the hills of ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple].
There the Lord ·gives [L commanded] his blessing
of life forever.
Jonathan Helps David
20 Then David ·ran away [fled] from Naioth in Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my ·crime [guilt; iniquity]? How did I ·sin against [offend; wrong] your father? Why is he ·trying to kill me [L seeking my life]?”
2 Jonathan answered, “·No [Never; Far from it]! You won’t die! See, my father doesn’t do anything ·great or small [important or unimportant] without first ·telling [confiding in] me. Why would he ·keep [hide] this from me? It’s not true!”
3 But David ·took an oath [vowed; swore], saying, “Your father knows very well that ·you like me [L I have found favor in your sight]. He says to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about it, or he will be ·upset [hurt; grieved].’ As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I am only a step away from death!”
4 Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do ·anything you want me to do [L for you whatever you say].”
5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival [Num. 29:6; 2 Chr. 8:13; Ezra 3:5; Col. 2:16]. I am supposed to eat with the king, but let me hide in the field until the ·third evening [L evening of the third day]. 6 If your father notices I am gone, tell him, ‘David begged ·me to let him go [L to hurry/run] to his hometown of Bethlehem. Every year at this time his ·family group [whole clan] offers a sacrifice.’ 7 If your father says, ‘·Fine [Very well; Good],’ ·I am safe [L your servant is well]. But if he becomes angry, you will know that he ·wants to hurt me [is determined to harm me; has an evil plan]. 8 Jonathan, ·be loyal [show kindness/faithful love] to me, your servant. You have made an ·agreement [covenant; solemn pact] with me before the Lord. If I ·am guilty [have sinned], you may kill me yourself! Why ·hand me over [betray me] to your father?”
9 Jonathan answered, “·No, never [L Far be it from you]! If I learn that my father ·plans to hurt you [L decided on evil], ·I will warn you [wouldn’t I tell you?]!”
10 David asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you ·unkindly [harshly]?”
11 Then Jonathan said [L to David], “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So the two of them went out into the field.
12 Jonathan said to David, “·I promise this before [L By] the Lord, the God of Israel: ·At [By] this same time ·the day after tomorrow [or tomorrow or the next day], I will ·find out how my father feels [sound out my father]. If he feels good toward you, I will send word to you and let you know. 13 But if my father plans to ·hurt [harm; kill] you, I will let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord ·punish me terribly [L deal severely with me, and worse,] if I don’t do this. And may the Lord be with you as he ·has been [used to be] with my father. 14 ·But show me the kindness of the Lord as long as I live so that I may not die [or If I am still alive, show me the faithful love/loyalty of the Lord. But if I die…] . 15 You must never ·stop showing [L cut off] your ·kindness [faithful love/loyalty] to my ·family [L house], even when the Lord has ·destroyed [exterminated; L cut off] all your enemies from the [L face of the] earth.”
16 So Jonathan ·made [L cut] an ·agreement [covenant; solemn pact] with David. He said, “May the Lord ·hold David’s enemies responsible [or destroy David’s enemies].” 17 And Jonathan asked David to repeat his ·promise [vow; oath] of love for him, because he loved David as much as he loved ·himself [L his own life/soul].
18 Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival [20:5]. Your ·seat [place] will be empty, so my father will miss you. 19 ·On the third day [The day after tomorrow] go to the place where you hid when this trouble began. Wait by the ·rock Ezel [stone pile; mound of rock]. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of the rock as if I am shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy to find the arrows. If I say to him, ‘The arrows are ·near you [L on this side]; bring them here,’ you may come out of hiding. You are safe. As the Lord lives, there is no ·danger [trouble; harm]. 22 But if I say to the ·boy [youngster], ‘Look, the arrows are ·beyond you [further on],’ you must go, because the Lord is sending you away. 23 Remember ·what we talked about [the promise we made]. The Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
35 The next morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David as they had agreed. He had a young boy with him. 36 Jonathan said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” When he ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 The boy ran to the place where Jonathan’s arrow fell, but Jonathan called, “The arrow is ·beyond [further ahead of] you!” 38 Then he shouted [L to the boy], “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t ·stop [stay; linger]!” The boy picked up the arrow and brought it back to his master. 39 (The boy ·knew nothing about what this meant [suspected nothing]; only Jonathan and David ·knew [understood].) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him, “Go [L bring them] back to town.”
41 When the boy left, David came out from the south side of the rock. He bowed facedown on the ground ·before Jonathan three [three] times. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other and cried together, but David cried the more.
42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in ·peace [safety]. We have ·promised [vowed; sworn] by the [L name of the] Lord ·that we will be friends [to each other]. We said, ‘The Lord will ·be a witness [L be] between you and me, and between our descendants always.’” Then ·David [L he got up and] left, and Jonathan went back to town.
The Good News Comes to Antioch
19 Many of the believers were scattered when they were persecuted after Stephen was killed. Some of them went as far as Phoenicia [C northwest of Israel on the coast], Cyprus [C an island to the west of the coast of Syria], and Antioch [C an important city in Syria] telling the message to others, but only to Jews. 20 Some of these believers were people from Cyprus and Cyrene [C a city in North Africa]. When they came to Antioch, they spoke also to ·Greeks[a] [or Hellenists (see textual note); C in 6:1 and 9:29 the word refers to Greek-speaking Jews; here it refers to Greek-speaking Gentiles], telling them the ·Good News [Gospel] about the Lord Jesus. 21 ·The Lord was helping the believers [L The hand of the Lord was with them], and a large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 The church in Jerusalem heard about all of this, so they sent Barnabas [4:36; 9:26–27] to Antioch.
25 Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus [C Paul’s hometown in Cilicia; 9:11] to look for Saul, 26 and when he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church and taught many people there. In Antioch the ·followers [disciples] were called Christians for the first time [C highlighting that they were followers of Christ, and perhaps that they were no longer viewed as merely a sect within Judaism].
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