Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

34 I will always give thanks to the LORD. His praise shall be in my mouth continually.

² My soul shall glory in the LORD. The humble shall hear it and be glad.

³ Praise the LORD with me; and let us magnify His Name together.

⁴ I sought the LORD, and He heard me. Indeed, He delivered me out of all my fear.

⁵ They shall look to Him and run; and their faces shall not be ashamed.

⁶ This poor man cried; and the LORD heard and saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷ The Angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see how gracious the LORD is. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.

2 Then the days of David drew near, that he should die. And he charged Solomon, his son, saying,

² “I go the way of all the Earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself to be a man,

³ “and keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and keep His Statutes and His Commandments and His Judgments and His Testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do, and in everything to which you turn,

⁴ “so that the LORD may confirm His Word which He spoke to me, saying, ‘If your sons guard their way, so that they walk before Me in truth, with all their hearts and with all their souls, you shall not (said He) lack one of yours upon the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “You also know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and what he did to the two captains to the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed and shed blood of battle in peace. And he put the blood of war upon his girdle that was around his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

⁶ “Do, therefore, according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

⁷ “But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite. And let them be among those who eat at your table. For so they came to me when I fled from Absalom, your brother.

⁸ “And behold, with you is Shimei, the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin of Bahurim, who cursed me with a horrible curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at Jordan and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not kill you with the sword.’

⁹ “But you shall not count him innocent. For you are a wise man, and know what you ought to do to him. Therefore, you shall cause his gray head to go down to the grave with blood.”

⁷ “Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.

⁸ “For whoever asks, receives. And the one who seeks, finds. And to the one who knocks, it shall be opened.

⁹ “For what man is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone?

¹⁰ “Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?

¹¹ “If you then, who are evil, can give to your children good gifts, how much more shall your Father, Who is in Heaven, give good things to those who ask Him?