The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

David and Bathsheba

1 ^hiIn the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged ^jRabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on ^kthe roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this ^lBathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^mUriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (ⁿNow she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and ^owash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, ^p“The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and ^qthe 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? As you live, and ^ras your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, ^sso that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with ^qthe servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning David ^twrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, ^uthat he may be struck down, and die.”

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1 After this ^jJesus went away to the other side of ^kthe Sea of Galilee, which is ^lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on ^mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now ⁿthe Passover, the ^ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 ^pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to ^qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 ^rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii¹ worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, ^sAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five ^tbarley loaves and two fish, but ^twhat are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” ^uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and ^vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ^w“This is indeed ^xthe Prophet ^ywho is to come into the world!”

15 ^zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus ^awithdrew again to ^bthe mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,² they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 ^cBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom ^wevery family¹ in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to ^xthe riches of his glory ^yhe may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit ^zin your inner being, 17 ^aso that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being ^brooted and ^cgrounded in love, 18 may have strength to ^dcomprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ^eheight and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ ^fthat surpasses knowledge, that ^gyou may be filled with all ^hthe fullness of God.

20 ⁱNow to ^jhim who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, ^kaccording to the power at work within us, 21 ^lto him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.