Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

48 How great is the Lord! How much we should praise him. He lives upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem. ² What a glorious sight! See Mount Zion rising north of the city^[a] high above the plains for all to see—Mount Zion, joy of all the earth, the residence of the great King.

³ God himself is the defender of Jerusalem.^{[b] 4} The kings of the earth have arrived together to inspect the city. ⁵ They marvel at the sight and hurry home again, ⁶ afraid of what they have seen; they are filled with panic like a woman in travail! ⁷ For God destroys the mightiest warships with a breath of wind. ⁸ We have heard of the city’s glory—the city of our God, the Commander of the armies of heaven. And now we see it for ourselves! God has established Jerusalem forever.

⁹ Lord, here in your Temple we meditate upon your kindness and your love. ¹⁰ Your name is known throughout the earth, O God. You are praised everywhere for the salvation^[c] you have scattered throughout the world. ¹¹ O Jerusalem,^[d] rejoice! O people of Judah, rejoice! For God will see to it that you are finally treated fairly. ¹² Go, inspect the city! Walk around and count her many towers! ¹³ Note her walls and tour her palaces so that you can tell your children.

¹⁴ For this great God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide until we die.

3 That was the beginning of a long war between the followers of Saul and of David. David’s position now became stronger and stronger, while Saul’s dynasty became weaker and weaker.

² Several sons were born to David while he was at Hebron. The oldest was Amnon, born to his wife Ahinoam. ³ His second son, Chileab, was born to Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. The third was Absalom, born to Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur. ⁴ The fourth was Adonijah, who was born to Haggith. Then Shephatiah was born to Abital, and ⁵ Ithream was born to Eglah.

⁶ As the war went on, Abner became a very powerful political leader among the followers of Saul. ⁷ He took advantage of his position by sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines, a girl named Rizpah. But when Ish-bosheth accused Abner of this, ⁸ Abner was furious.

“Am I a Judean dog to be kicked around like this?” he shouted. “After all I have done for you and for your father by not betraying you to David, is this my reward—to find fault with me about some woman? ^9-10 May God curse me if I don’t do everything I can to take away the entire kingdom from you, all the way from Dan to Beersheba, and give it to David, just as the Lord predicted.”

¹¹ Ish-bosheth made no reply, for he was afraid of Abner.

¹² Then Abner sent messengers to David to discuss a deal—to surrender the kingdom of Israel to him in exchange for becoming commander-in-chief of the combined armies of Israel and Judah.

⁷ The trouble with you is that you look at me and I seem weak and powerless, but you don’t look beneath the surface. Yet if anyone can claim the power and authority of Christ, I certainly can. ⁸ I may seem to be boasting more than I should about my authority over you—authority to help you, not to hurt you—but I shall make good every claim. ⁹ I say this so that you will not think I am just blustering when I scold you in my letters.

¹⁰ “Don’t bother about his letters,” some say. “He sounds big, but it’s all noise. When he gets here you will see that there is nothing great about him, and you have never heard a worse preacher!” ¹¹ This time my personal presence is going to be just as rough on you as my letters are!