Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

7 When King David dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

² The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.

³ And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.

⁴ That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,

⁵ Go and tell My servant David, Thus says the Lord: Shall you build Me a house in which to dwell?

⁶ For I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this day, but have moved about with a tent for My dwelling.

⁷ In all the places where I have moved with all the Israelites, did I speak a word to any from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to be shepherd of My people Israel, asking, Why do you not build Me a house of cedar?

⁸ So now say this to My servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over My people Israel.

⁹ And I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like [that] of the great men of the earth.

¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and be moved no more. And wicked men shall afflict them no more, as formerly

¹¹ And as from the time that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord declares to you that He will make for you a house:

¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up after you your offspring who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³ He shall build a house for My ^[a]Name [and My Presence], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴ I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men.

²⁰ I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him,^(A)

²¹ With whom My hand shall be established and ever abide; My arm also shall strengthen him.

²² The enemy shall not exact from him or do him violence or outwit him, nor shall the wicked afflict and humble him.

²³ I will beat down his foes before his face and smite those who hate him.

²⁴ My faithfulness and My mercy and loving-kindness shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted [great power and prosperity shall be conferred upon him].

²⁵ I will set his hand in control also on the [Mediterranean] Sea, and his right hand on the rivers [Euphrates with its tributaries].

²⁶ He shall cry to Me, You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!

²⁷ Also I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.^(B)

²⁸ My mercy and loving-kindness will I keep for him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast and be faithful with him.

²⁹ His ^[a]Offspring also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.^(C)

³⁰ If his children forsake My law and walk not in My ordinances,

³¹ If they break or profane My statutes and keep not My commandments,

³² Then will I punish their transgression with the rod [of chastisement], and their iniquity with stripes.^(D)

³³ Nevertheless, My loving-kindness will I not break off from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail [to lie and be false to him].

³⁴ My covenant will I not break or profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.

³⁵ Once [for all] have I sworn by My holiness, which cannot be violated; I will not lie to David:

³⁶ His Offspring shall endure forever, and his throne [shall continue] as the sun before Me.^(E)

³⁷ It shall be established forever as the moon, the faithful witness in the heavens. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^(F)

¹¹ Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles (heathens) in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by those who called themselves Circumcision, [itself a ^[a]mere mark] in the flesh made by human hands.

¹² [Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God’s agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.

¹⁴ For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,

¹⁵ By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.

¹⁶ And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.

¹⁷ And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near.^(A)

¹⁸ For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].

¹⁹ Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s [own] household.

²⁰ You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone.

²¹ In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].

²² In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit.

³⁰ The apostles [sent out as missionaries] came back and gathered together to Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught.

³¹ And He said to them, [^[a]As for you] come away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest a while—for many were [continually] coming and going, and they had not even leisure enough to eat.

³² And they went away in a boat to a solitary place by themselves.

³³ Now many [people] saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the surrounding towns, and they got there ahead [of those in the boat].

³⁴ As Jesus landed, He saw a great crowd waiting, and He was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

⁵³ And when they had crossed over, they reached the land of Gennesaret and ^[a]came to [anchor at] the shore.

⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, [the people] recognized Him,

⁵⁵ And they ran about the whole countryside, and began to carry around sick people on their sleeping pads or mats to any place where they heard that He was.

⁵⁶ And wherever He came into villages or cities or the country, they would lay the sick in the marketplaces and beg Him that they might touch even the fringe of His outer garment, and as many as touched Him were restored to health.