Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 48[a]
The Splendor of the Invincible City
1 A psalm of the Korahites.[b] A song.
I
2 Great is the Lord and highly praised
in the city of our God:(A)
His holy mountain,
3 fairest of heights,
the joy of all the earth,(B)
Mount Zion, the heights of Zaphon,[c](C)
the city of the great king.
II
4 God is in its citadel,
renowned as a stronghold.
5 See! The kings assembled,
together they advanced.
6 [d]When they looked they were astounded;
terrified, they were put to flight!(D)
7 Trembling seized them there,
anguish, like a woman’s labor,(E)
8 As when the east wind wrecks
the ships of Tarshish![e]
III
9 [f]What we had heard we have now seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God,
which God establishes forever.
Selah
10 We ponder, O God, your mercy
within your temple
11 Like your name, O God,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.(F)
Your right hand is fully victorious.
12 Mount Zion is glad!
The daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!(G)
IV
Chapter 3
1 There followed a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, in which David grew ever stronger, but the house of Saul ever weaker.
Sons Born in Hebron. 2 (A)Sons were born to David in Hebron: his firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam from Jezreel; 3 the second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom, son of Maacah, who was the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur;(B) 4 the fourth, Adonijah, son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah, son of Abital;(C) 5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.
Ishbaal and Abner Quarrel. 6 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was gaining power in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had had a concubine, Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbaal, son of Saul, said to Abner, “Why have you slept with my father’s concubine?”[a](D) 8 Enraged at the words of Ishbaal, Abner said, “Am I a dog’s head from Judah? As of today, I have been loyal to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and his friends, and I have kept you out of David’s clutches; and today you charge me with a crime involving a woman! 9 May God do thus to Abner, and more, if I do not carry out for David what the Lord swore to him—(E) 10 that is, take away the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel as well as Judah, from Dan to Beer-sheba.”(F) 11 Ishbaal was no longer able to say a word to Abner, he feared him so.
Abner and David Reconciled. 12 Then Abner sent messengers to David in Telam, where he was at the moment, to say, “Make a covenant with me, and you have me on your side, to bring all Israel over to you.”
7 (A)Look at what confronts you. Whoever is confident of belonging to Christ should consider that as he belongs to Christ, so do we.[a] 8 (B)And even if I should boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I shall not be put to shame. 9 [b]May I not seem as one frightening you through letters. 10 For someone will say, “His letters are severe and forceful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”(C) 11 Such a person must understand that what we are in word through letters when absent, that we also are in action when present.(D)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.