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Psalms 17

Hear, O Lord, My Righteous Plee
1 A Prayer of David.

 Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry!
 Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2 From your presence let my vindication come!
 Let your eyes behold the right!

3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
 you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
 I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
 I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held fast to your paths;
 my feet have not slipped.

6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
 incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,
 O Savior of those who seek refuge
 from their adversaries at your right hand.

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
 hide me in the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
 my deadly enemies who surround me.

10 They close their hearts to pity;
 with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our steps;
 they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
 as a young lion lurking in ambush.

13 Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!
 Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O LORD,
 from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their womb with treasure;
 they are satisfied with children,
 and they leave their abundance to their infants.

15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
 when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

1 Samuel 21

David Takes the Consecrated Bread
1 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”
2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.
8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.”
9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
David Flees to Gath
10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,

 ‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
 and David his ten thousands’”?

12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

1 Samuel 22

David Flees to Adullam and Mizpeh
1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.
2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.
3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
4 And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
Saul Slays the Priests of Nob
6 Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.
7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” 9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 10 and he inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11 Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king.
12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?”
14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house?
15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” 16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.” 17 And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.
20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. 23 Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

Psalms 62

Waiting on God
1 To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
 from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
 my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will all of you attack a man
 to batter him,
 like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
 They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
 but inwardly they curse. Selah

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
 for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
 my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
 my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
 pour out your heart before him;
 God is a refuge for us. Selah

9 Those of low estate are but a breath;
 those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
 they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no trust in extortion;
 set no vain hopes on robbery;
 if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 Once God has spoken;
 twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12  and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
 according to his work.

Mark 10

The Third Prediction of the Passion
32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,
33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
The Request of James and John
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus Heals Bartimaeus
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.