Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Zion, the City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of (A)the Sons of Korah.
48 (B)Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in (C)the city of our God!
His (D)holy mountain, 2 (E)beautiful in elevation,
is (F)the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
(G)the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, (H)the kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 (I)Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish (J)as of a woman in labor.
7 By (K)the east wind you (L)shattered
the ships of (M)Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in (N)the city of our God,
which God will (O)establish forever. Selah
Abner Joins David
3 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
2 (A)And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of (B)Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3 and his second, Chileab, of (C)Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah (D)the daughter of Talmai king of (E)Geshur; 4 and the fourth, (F)Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.
6 While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had a concubine whose name was (G)Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, (H)“Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?” 8 Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I (I)a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. 9 (J)God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David (K)what the Lord has sworn to him, 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, (L)from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.
12 And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,[a] saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.”
7 (A)Look at what is before your eyes. (B)If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as (C)he is Christ's, (D)so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of (E)our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but (F)his bodily presence is weak, and (G)his speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.