Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 48
The Security of the King’s Holy City
Heading
A song. A psalm by the Sons of Korah.
Call to Praise
1 The Lord is great. He deserves to be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
2 His mountain is lofty and beautiful, the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion, the northern mountain, is the city of the Great King.
3 God is in her citadels.
He is famous as her fortress.
Defeat of the Enemies
4 Look! See! The kings came together.
They advanced together.
5 They saw. Yes, they were amazed.
They were terrified. They were put to flight.
6 Trembling seized them there,
pain like a woman giving birth.
7 You shattered them with an east wind, like ships of Tarshish.
Thanksgiving
8 What we have heard, we now have also seen:
In the city of the Lord of Armies,
in the city of our God, Interlude
God establishes her forever.
9 Inside your temple, O God, we meditate on your mercy.
10 Your praise, O God, reaches to the ends of the earth,
just as your fame does.
Righteousness fills your right hand.
11 Mount Zion rejoices.
The daughters of Judah[a] celebrate because of your judgments.
12 Go around Zion. Yes, go all the way around her.
Count her towers. 13 Consider her rampart.[b]
View her citadels, so that you may tell the next generation about them.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us beyond death.[c]
24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go to look for omens as he had done at the other times, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the Spirit of God was upon him. 3 He took up his oracle and said:
The declaration of Balaam son of Beor,
the declaration of the man whose eye is open,
4 the declaration of the one who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
who is falling down, but his eyes are wide open:
5 How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
and your dwelling places, O Israel!
6 Like rows of palm trees[a] they stretch out,
like gardens by the riverside,
like aloes which the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from his buckets.
His seed[b] will have abundant waters.
His king will be higher than Agag.
His kingdom will be lifted up.
8 God brings him out of Egypt.
God is like the horns of a wild ox for him.
He will eat up the nations who are his adversaries.
He will gnaw on their bones.
He will pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He crouches like a lion.
He lies down like a lioness.
Who will rouse him?
The one who blesses you is blessed.
The one who curses you is cursed.
10 Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he slapped his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but look, all you have done is bless them these three times. 11 Now get out of here. Go to your own place! I said I would really reward you, but look, the Lord has denied you a reward.”
12 Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I tell the messengers you sent to me, ‘I will say what the Lord says. 13 Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go against the command of the Lord by doing anything good or bad of my own will’?[c] 14 Yes, I am going back to my people, but pay attention now—I will tell you what this people will do to your people in days to come.”
The Angel Gabriel Appears to the Virgin Mary
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”[a]
29 But she was greatly troubled by the statement and was wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found favor with God. 31 Listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Listen, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age even though she was called barren, and this is her sixth month. 37 For nothing will be impossible for God.”
38 Then Mary said, “See, I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.