Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
21 How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord! How he exults in your salvation. 2 For you have given him his heart’s desire, everything he asks you for!
3 You welcomed him to the throne with success and prosperity. You set a royal crown of solid gold upon his head. 4 He asked for a long, good life, and you have granted his request; the days of his life stretch on and on forever. 5 You have given him fame and honor. You have clothed him with splendor and majesty. 6 You have endowed him with eternal happiness. You have given him the unquenchable joy of your presence. 7 And because the king trusts in the Lord, he will never stumble, never fall; for he depends upon the steadfast love of the God who is above all gods.
8 Your hand, O Lord, will find your enemies, all who hate you. 9-10 When you appear, they will be destroyed in the fierce fire of your presence. The Lord will destroy them and their children. 11 For these men plot against you, Lord, but they cannot possibly succeed. 12 They will turn and flee when they see your arrows aimed straight at them.
13 Accept our praise, O Lord, for all your glorious power. We will write songs to celebrate your mighty acts!
5 Representatives of all the tribes of Israel now came to David at Hebron and gave him their pledge of loyalty.
“We are your blood brothers,” they said. 2 “And even when Saul was our king you were our real leader. The Lord has said that you should be the shepherd and leader of his people.”
3 So David made a contract before the Lord with the leaders of Israel there at Hebron, and they crowned him king of Israel. 4-5 (He had already been the king of Judah for seven years, since the age of thirty. He then ruled thirty-three years in Jerusalem as king of both Israel and Judah; so he reigned for forty years altogether.)
6 David now led his troops to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites who lived there.
“You’ll never come in here,” they told him. “Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For they thought they were safe. 7 But David and his troops defeated them and captured the stronghold of Zion, now called the City of David.
8 When the insulting message from the defenders of the city reached David, he told his troops, “Go up through the water tunnel into the city and destroy those ‘lame’ and ‘blind’ Jebusites. How I hate them.” (That is the origin of the saying, “Even the blind and the lame could conquer you!”)
9 So David made the stronghold of Zion (also called the City of David) his headquarters. Then, beginning at the old Millo section of the city, he built northward toward the present city center. 10 So David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of heaven was with him.
16 Again I plead, don’t think that I have lost my wits to talk like this; but even if you do, listen to me anyway—a witless man, a fool—while I also boast a little as they do. 17 Such bragging isn’t something the Lord commanded me to do, for I am acting like a brainless fool. 18 Yet those other men keep telling you how wonderful they are, so here I go: 19-20 (You think you are so wise—yet you listen gladly to those fools; you don’t mind at all when they make you their slaves and take everything you have, and take advantage of you, and put on airs, and slap you in the face. 21 I’m ashamed to say that I’m not strong and daring like that!
But whatever they can boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I can boast about it, too.)
22 They brag that they are Hebrews, do they? Well, so am I. And they say that they are Israelites, God’s chosen people? So am I. And they are descendants of Abraham? Well, I am too.
23 They say they serve Christ? But I have served him far more! (Have I gone mad to boast like this?) I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again and again. 24 Five different times the Jews gave me their terrible thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I was in the open sea all night and the whole next day. 26 I have traveled many weary miles and have been often in great danger from flooded rivers and from robbers and from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the hands of the Gentiles. I have faced grave dangers from mobs in the cities and from death in the deserts and in the stormy seas and from men who claim to be brothers in Christ but are not. 27 I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food; often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the constant worry of how the churches are getting along: 29 Who makes a mistake and I do not feel his sadness? Who falls without my longing to help him? Who is spiritually hurt without my fury rising against the one who hurt him?
30 But if I must brag, I would rather brag about the things that show how weak I am. 31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is to be praised forever and ever, knows I tell the truth. 32 For instance, in Damascus the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me; 33 but I was let down by rope and basket from a hole in the city wall, and so I got away! What popularity![a]
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.