Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A psalm by David for the music leader.)

Thanking the Lord for Victory

David Becomes King of Israel

(1 Chronicles 11.1-3)

5 Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, “We are your relatives. ² Even when Saul was king, you led our nation in battle. And the Lord promised that someday you would rule Israel and take care of us like a shepherd.”

³ During the meeting, David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now the king of Israel.

^4 (A) David was 30 years old when he became king, and he ruled for 40 years. ⁵ He lived in Hebron for the first seven and a half years and ruled only Judah. Then he moved to Jerusalem, where he ruled both Israel and Judah for 33 years.

How David Captured Jerusalem

(1 Chronicles 11.4-9; 14.1,2)

^6 (B) The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and David led his army there to attack them. The Jebusites did not think he could get in, so they told him, “You can't get in here! We could keep you out, even if we couldn't see or walk!”

^7-9 David told his troops, “You will have to go up through the water tunnel to get those Jebusites. I hate people like them^[a] who can't walk or see.”

That's why there is still a rule that says, “Only people who can walk and see are allowed in the temple.”^[b]

David captured the fortress on Mount Zion, then he moved there and named it David's City. He had the city rebuilt, starting with the landfill to the east. ¹⁰ David became a great and strong ruler, because the Lord All-Powerful was on his side.

Paul's Sufferings for Christ

¹⁶ I don't want any of you to think I am a fool. But if you do, then let me be a fool and brag a little. ¹⁷ When I do all this bragging, I do it as a fool and not for the Lord. ¹⁸ Yet if others want to brag about what they have done, so will I. ¹⁹ And since you are so smart, you will gladly put up with a fool. ²⁰ In fact, you let people make slaves of you and cheat you and steal from you. Why, you even let them strut around and slap you in the face. ²¹ I am ashamed to say we are too weak to behave in such a way.

If they can brag, so can I, but it is a foolish thing to do. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Jews? So am I. Are they from the family of Abraham? Well, so am I. ^23 (A) Are they servants of Christ? I am a fool to talk this way, but I serve him better than they do. I have worked harder and have been put in jail more times. I have been beaten with whips more and have been in danger of death more often.

^24 (B) Five times my own people gave me 39 lashes with a whip. ^25 (C) Three times the Romans beat me with a big stick, and once my enemies stoned me. I have been shipwrecked three times, and I even had to spend a night and a day in the sea. ^26 (D) During my many travels, I have been in danger from rivers, robbers, my own people, and foreigners. My life has been in danger in cities, in deserts, at sea, and with people who only pretended to be the Lord's followers.

²⁷ I have worked and struggled and spent many sleepless nights. I have gone hungry and thirsty and often had nothing to eat. I have been cold from not having enough clothes to keep me warm. ²⁸ Besides everything else, each day I am burdened down, worrying about all the churches. ²⁹ When others are weak, I am weak too. When others are tricked into sin, I get angry.^[a]

³⁰ If I have to brag, I will brag about how weak I am. ³¹ God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, knows I am not lying. And God is to be praised forever! ^32 (E) The governor of Damascus at the time of King Aretas had the city gates guarded, so he could capture me. ³³ But I escaped by being let down in a basket through a window in the city wall.