Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Call to Praise and Obedience
95 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord.
Let’s shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let’s come to him with thanksgiving.
Let’s sing songs to him.
3 The Lord is the great God.
He is the great King over all gods.
4 The deepest places on earth are his.
And the highest mountains belong to him.
5 The sea is his because he made it.
He created the land with his own hands.
6 Come, let’s bow down and worship him.
Let’s kneel before the Lord who made us.
7 He is our God.
And we are the people he takes care of
and the sheep that he tends.
Today listen to what he says:
8 “Do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day at Massah in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tested me.
They put me to the test even though they saw what I did.
10 I was angry with those people for 40 years.
I said, ‘They are not loyal to me.
They have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’”
David Becomes King
11 All the people of Israel came to David at the town of Hebron. They said, “We are your people. 2 Even when Saul was king, you were the man who led Israel in battle. The Lord your God spoke to you. He said, ‘David, you will be the shepherd of my people, the people of Israel. You will become their leader.’”
3 All the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made an agreement with them before the Lord in Hebron. The leaders poured olive oil on David to appoint him king over Israel. The Lord had promised this would happen. He had made this promise through Samuel.
David Defeats Jerusalem
4 David and all the Israelites went to the city of Jerusalem. At that time Jerusalem was called Jebus. The people living there were named Jebusites. 5 They said to David, “You can’t get inside our city.” But David captured their strong city of Jerusalem, the City of David.
6 David had said, “The person who leads the attack against the Jebusites will become the commander over all my army.” Joab son of Zeruiah led the attack. So he became the commander of the army.
7 Then David made his home in the strong, walled city. That is why it was named the City of David. 8 David rebuilt the city. He started where the land was filled in and went to the wall that was around the city. Joab repaired the other parts of the city. 9 David became more and more powerful. And the Lord of heaven’s armies was with him.
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”
And the elder said, “These are the people who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[a] with the blood of the Lamb. Now they are clean and white. 15 And they are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the One who sits on the throne will protect them. 16 Those people will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.