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Psalm 130

1  Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord;
      Lord, hear my voice; ♦︎
   let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
2  If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss, ♦︎
   O Lord, who could stand?
3  But there is forgiveness with you, ♦︎
   so that you shall be feared.
4  I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; ♦︎
   in his word is my hope.
5  My soul waits for the Lord,
      more than the night watch for the morning, ♦︎
   more than the night watch for the morning.
6  O Israel, wait for the Lord, ♦︎
   for with the Lord there is mercy;
7  With him is plenteous redemption ♦︎
   and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

The Friendship of David and Jonathan

20David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, ‘What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life?’ ²He said to him, ‘Perish the thought! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never!’ ³But David also swore, ‘Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, “Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.” But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.’ ⁴Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Whatever you say, I will do for you.’ ⁵David said to Jonathan, ‘Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening. ⁶If your father misses me at all, then say, “David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.” ⁷If he says, “Good!” it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. ⁸Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant^* with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?’ ⁹Jonathan said, ‘Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you?’ ¹⁰Then David said to Jonathan, ‘Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?’ ¹¹Jonathan replied to David, ‘Come, let us go out into the field.’ So they both went out into the field.

12 Jonathan said to David, ‘By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed towards David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? ¹³But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. ¹⁴If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die,^{* 15}never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.’ ¹⁶Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘May the Lord seek out the enemies of David.’ ¹⁷Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.

18 Jonathan said to him, ‘Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. ¹⁹On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there.^{* 20}I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. ²¹Then I will send the boy, saying, “Go, find the arrows.” If I say to the boy, “Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them”, then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. ²²But if I say to the young man, “Look, the arrows are beyond you”, then go; for the Lord has sent you away. ²³As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness^* between you and me for ever.’

24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. ²⁵The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Saul’s side; but David’s place was empty.

Encouragement to Be Generous

8We want you to know, brothers and sisters,^* about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; ²for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, ⁴begging us earnestly for the privilege^* of sharing in this ministry to the saints— ⁵and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, ⁶so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking^* among you. ⁷Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you^*—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.^*