Psalm 48

New International Version

Psalm 48^[a]

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

¹Great is the Lord,^(A) and most worthy of praise,^(B)
in the city of our God,^(C) his holy mountain.^(D)

²Beautiful^(E) in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon^[b]^(F) is Mount Zion,^(G)
    the city of the Great King.^(H)
³God is in her citadels;^(I)
    he has shown himself to be her fortress.^(J)

⁴When the kings joined forces,
    when they advanced together,^(K)
⁵they saw her and were astounded;
    they fled in terror.^(L)
⁶Trembling seized^(M) them there,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.^(N)
⁷You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish^(O)
    shattered by an east wind.^(P)

⁸As we have heard,
    so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
    in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
    forever.^[c]^(Q)

⁹Within your temple, O God,
    we meditate^(R) on your unfailing love.^(S)
¹⁰Like your name,^(T) O God,
    your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;^(U)
    your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹¹Mount Zion rejoices,
    the villages of Judah are glad
    because of your judgments.^(V)

¹²Walk about Zion, go around her,
    count her towers,^(W)
¹³consider well her ramparts,^(X)
    view her citadels,^(Y)
that you may tell of them
    to the next generation.^(Z)

¹⁴For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide^(AA) even to the end.

Footnotes

Psalm 48:1 In Hebrew texts 48:1-14 is numbered 48:2-15.
Psalm 48:2 Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.
Psalm 48:8 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

2 Samuel 3:1-12

New International Version

3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time.^(A) David grew stronger and stronger,^(B) while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.^(C)

²Sons were born to David in Hebron:

His firstborn was Amnon^(D) the son of Ahinoam^(E) of Jezreel;

³his second, Kileab the son of Abigail^(F) the widow of Nabal of Carmel;

the third, Absalom^(G) the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;^(H)

⁴the fourth, Adonijah^(I) the son of Haggith;

the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

⁵and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah.

These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Goes Over to David

⁶During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner^(J) had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had had a concubine^(K) named Rizpah^(L) daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁸Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head^(M)—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! ⁹May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised^(N) him on oath ¹⁰and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.”^(O) ¹¹Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you.”

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2 Corinthians 10:7-11

New International Version

⁷You are judging by appearances.^[a]^(A) If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ,^(B) they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.^(C) ⁸So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us^(D) for building you up rather than tearing you down,^(E) I will not be ashamed of it. ⁹I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. ¹⁰For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive^(F) and his speaking amounts to nothing.”^(G) ¹¹Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.