Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 95

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!

² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

⁴ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.

⁵ The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].

⁷ For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,^(A)

⁸ Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness,^(B)

⁹ When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].

¹⁰ Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.

¹¹ Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].^(C)

11 Then [after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, who ruled over eleven tribes of Israel for two troubled years after Saul’s death] all Israel gathered at Hebron and said to David, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.^(A)

² In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, You shall be shepherd of My people Israel, and you shall be prince and leader over [them].

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them there before the Lord, and they anointed [him] king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord through Samuel.^(B)

⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were.

⁵ Then the Jebusites said to David, You shall not come in here! But David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the City of David.

⁶ And David said, Whoever smites the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander. Joab son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] went up first, and so he was made chief.

⁷ David dwelt in the stronghold; so it was called the City of David.

⁸ He built the city from the Millo [a fortification] on around; and Joab repaired and revived the rest of the [old Jebusite] city.

⁹ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

¹³ Then, addressing me, one of the elders [^[a]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] said, Who are these [people] clothed in the long white robes? And from where have they come?

¹⁴ I replied, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^(A)

¹⁵ For this reason they are [now] before the [very] throne of God and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary (temple); and He Who is sitting upon the throne will protect and spread His tabernacle over and shelter them with His presence.

¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any ^[b]scorching heat.^(B)

¹⁷ For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.^(C)