Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a

²⁶When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. ²⁷When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,

¹and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had very many flocks and herds; ³but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” ⁵Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lordlives, the man who has done this deserves to die; ⁶he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”⁷Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; ⁸I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. ⁹Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. ¹¹Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. ¹²For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” ¹³David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-13

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; *
       in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
² Wash me through and through from my wickedness *
       and cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I know my transgressions, *
       and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you only have I sinned *
       and done what is evil in your sight.
⁵ And so you are justified when you speak *
       and upright in your judgment.
⁶ Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
       a sinner from my mother’s womb.
⁷ For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
       and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
⁸ Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
       wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.
⁹ Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
       that the body you have broken may rejoice.
¹⁰ Hide your face from my sins *
       and blot out all my iniquities.
¹¹ Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
       and renew a right spirit within me.
¹² Cast me not away from your presence *
       and take not your holy Spirit from me.
¹³ Give me the joy of your saving help again *
       and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.

Old Testament: Exodus 16:2-4,9-15

²The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. ⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” ¹⁰And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ¹²“I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Psalm: Psalm 78:23-29

²³ So he commanded the clouds above *
       and opened the doors of heaven.
²⁴ He rained down manna upon them to eat *
       and gave them grain from heaven.
²⁵ So mortals ate the bread of angels; *
       he provided for them food enough.
²⁶ He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens *
       and led out the south wind by his might.
²⁷ He rained down flesh upon them like dust *
       and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
²⁸ He let it fall in the midst of their camp *
       and round about their dwellings.
²⁹ So they ate and were well filled, *
       for he gave them what they craved.