Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 48[a]
Thanksgiving for the Deliverance of God’s People
1 A psalm of the sons of Korah.[b] A song.
2 Great is the Lord and worthy of high praise
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,[c] 3 towering in its beauty,
is the joy of the entire earth.
Mount Zion, the true heights of the north,[d]
is the city of the great King.
4 God is in her citadels
and has revealed himself as her fortress.[e]
5 [f]For the kings conspired together
and came onward in unison.
6 As soon as they beheld her, they were astounded;
filled with panic, they fled.
7 They were seized with trembling,
with pains like those of a woman in labor,
8 as though a wind from the east[g]
were breaking up the ships of Tarshish.
9 What we had heard,
we have now beheld for ourselves[h]
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God
that he established to endure forever. Selah
10 O God, as we stand in the midst of your temple,
we will meditate on your kindness.[i]
11 Like your name,[j] O God,
your praise extends to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness;
12 let Mount Zion rejoice.
Let the towns of Judah exult
in your saving judgments.[k]
13 [l]Walk around Zion; pass throughout her;
count the number of her towers.
14 Take careful note of her ramparts,
walk through her citadels,
so that you may recount for future generations
15 that such is God;
our God forever and ever,
he will be our guide eternally.[m]
Chapter 2
David Is Anointed King.[a] 1 After this, David inquired of the Lord, asking: “Shall I go up into one of the towns of Judah?” The Lord replied to him: “Go up.” Then David asked: “To which one stall I go?” The Lord answered: “Hebron.”
2 Therefore, David went up to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 David also brought up the men who were with him, along with their families, and they settled in the towns of Hebron. Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David as king of the house of Judah.
4 When David received a report that the men of Jabesh-gilead were the ones who had buried Saul, 5 he sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead to say to them: “May you be blessed by the Lord for having done this act of kindness to your lord Saul by burying him. 6 Now may the Lord bestow his love and faithfulness upon you. Moreover, I too will treat you with kindness because you have done this charitable deed. 7 Therefore, have courage and be valiant, for even though your lord, Saul, is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”
The Reign of David
Ishbaal as King of Israel.[b] 8 Meanwhile the commander of Saul’s army, Abner, the son of Ner, had taken Ishbaal, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 There he made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10 Ishbaal, the son of Saul, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. However, the house of Judah followed David. 11 The length of time that David was in Hebron as king of the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
8 You already have everything! You have already become rich! You have become kings without our help! How I wish that you truly reigned so that we might reign with you![a]
9 It seems to me that God has designated us apostles as the last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute.
11 To this very hour, we endure hunger and thirst. We are poorly clad and beaten and homeless, 12 and we exhaust ourselves working with our hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we suffer persecution, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we respond gently. We are regarded as the rubbish of the world, the dregs of humanity, to this very day.
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