Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

48 How great is the Lord! How much we should praise him. He lives upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem. ² What a glorious sight! See Mount Zion rising north of the city^[a] high above the plains for all to see—Mount Zion, joy of all the earth, the residence of the great King.

³ God himself is the defender of Jerusalem.^{[b] 4} The kings of the earth have arrived together to inspect the city. ⁵ They marvel at the sight and hurry home again, ⁶ afraid of what they have seen; they are filled with panic like a woman in travail! ⁷ For God destroys the mightiest warships with a breath of wind. ⁸ We have heard of the city’s glory—the city of our God, the Commander of the armies of heaven. And now we see it for ourselves! God has established Jerusalem forever.

⁹ Lord, here in your Temple we meditate upon your kindness and your love. ¹⁰ Your name is known throughout the earth, O God. You are praised everywhere for the salvation^[c] you have scattered throughout the world. ¹¹ O Jerusalem,^[d] rejoice! O people of Judah, rejoice! For God will see to it that you are finally treated fairly. ¹² Go, inspect the city! Walk around and count her many towers! ¹³ Note her walls and tour her palaces so that you can tell your children.

¹⁴ For this great God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide until we die.

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all those who were with him, “Go into deep mourning for Abner.” And King David accompanied the bier to the cemetery. ³² They buried Abner in Hebron. And the king and all the people wept at the graveside.

^33-34 “Should Abner have died like a fool?” the king lamented.

And all the people wept again for him. ^35-36 David had refused to eat anything the day of the funeral, and now everyone begged him to take a bite of supper. But David vowed that he would eat nothing until sundown. This pleased his people, just as everything else he did pleased them! ³⁷ Thus the whole nation, both Judah and Israel, understood from David’s actions that he was in no way responsible for Abner’s death.

³⁸ And David said to his people, “A great leader and a great man has fallen today in Israel;

¹⁸ When Jesus noticed how large the crowd was growing, he instructed his disciples to get ready to cross to the other side of the lake.

¹⁹ Just then^[a] one of the Jewish religious teachers said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you no matter where you go!”

²⁰ But Jesus said, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but I, the Messiah,^[b] have no home of my own—no place to lay my head.”

²¹ Another of his disciples said, “Sir, when my father is dead, then I will follow you.”^[c]

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me now!^[d] Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead.”