Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:1-15

¹In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. ²It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. ³David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

⁶So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. ⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. ⁹But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the 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 as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” ¹²Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, ¹³David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

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

Psalm: Psalm 14

¹ The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” *
        All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;
        there is none who does any good.
² The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, *
       to see if there is any who is wise,
       if there is one who seeks after God.
³ Every one has proved faithless;
   all alike have turned bad; *
       there is none who does good; no, not one.
⁴ Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers *
       who eat up my people like bread
       and do not call upon the Lord?
⁵ See how they tremble with fear, *
       because God is in the company of the righteous.
⁶ Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, *
       but the Lord is their refuge.
⁷ Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! *
       when the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
       Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

Old Testament: 2 Kings 4:42-44

⁴²A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” ⁴³But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” ⁴⁴He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

Psalm: 145:10-19

¹⁰ All your works praise you, O Lord, *
       and your faithful servants bless you.
¹¹ They make known the glory of your kingdom *
       and speak of your power;
¹² That the peoples may know of your power *
       and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; *
       your dominion endures throughout all ages.
¹⁴ The Lord is faithful in all his words *
       and merciful in all his deeds.
¹⁵ The Lord upholds all those who fall; *
       he lifts up those who are bowed down.
¹⁶ The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord, *
       and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁷ You open wide your hand *
       and satisfy the needs of every living creature.
¹⁸ The Lord is righteous in all his ways *
       and loving in all his works.
¹⁹ The Lord is near to those who call upon him, *
       to all who call upon him faithfully.