Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
95 Come, let us sing praise to the Lord!
Let us shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2 Come and worship him with songs of thanks.[a]
Let us sing happy songs of praise to him.
3 For the Lord is a great God,
the great King ruling over all the other “gods.”
4 The deepest caves and the highest mountains belong to him.
5 The ocean is his—he created it.
He made the dry land with his own hands.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship him!
Let us kneel before the Lord who made us.
7 He is our God,
and we are the people he cares for,
his sheep that walk by his side.
Listen to his voice today:
8 “Don’t be stubborn, as you were at Meribah,
as you were at Massah[b] in the desert.
9 Your ancestors doubted and tested me,
even after they saw what I could do!
10 I was angry with them for 40 years.
I said, ‘They are not faithful to me.
They refuse to do what I say.’
11 So in my anger I made this vow:
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’”
David Becomes King Over Israel
11 All the Israelites came to David at the town of Hebron. They said to David, “We are your own flesh and blood.[a] 2 In the past you led us in war. You led us even though Saul was the king. The Lord said to you ‘David, you will be the shepherd of my people, the Israelites. You will become the leader over my people.’”
3 All the leaders of Israel came to King David at the town of Hebron. David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. The leaders anointed David. That made him king over Israel. The Lord had promised through Samuel that this would happen.
David Captures Jerusalem
4 David and all the Israelites went to the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was called Jebus at that time. The people living in that city were named Jebusites. They 5 said to David, “You cannot get inside our city.” But David did defeat them. He took over the fortress of Zion, and it became the City of David.
6 David said, “The one who leads the attack on the Jebusites will become the commander over all my army.” So Joab led the attack. He was Zeruiah’s son. Joab became the commander of the army.
7 Then David made his home in the fortress. That is why it is named the City of David. 8 David built the city around the fort. He built it from the Millo to the wall around the city. Joab repaired the other parts of the city. 9 David continued to grow greater, and the Lord All-Powerful 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 ones who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[a] with the blood of the Lamb, and they are clean and white. 15 So now these people 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 They will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 The Lamb in front 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.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International