Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (A)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the (B)city of our God, His (C)holy mountain.
2 (D)Beautiful in elevation, (E)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The (F)city of the great King.
3 God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a (G)stronghold.
4 For, lo, the (H)kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (I)terrified, they [a]fled in alarm.
6 [b]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of (J)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (K)east wind
You (L)break the (M)ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will (N)establish her forever. [c]Selah.
9 We have thought on (O)Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (P)name, O God,
So is Your (Q)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (R)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount (S)Zion be glad,
Let the (T)daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her (U)towers;
13 Consider her (V)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may (W)tell it to the next generation.
14 For [d]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (X)guide us [e]until death.
David Mourns Abner
31 Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “(A)Tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier. 32 Thus they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at (B)the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33 (C)The king chanted a lament for Abner and said,
“Should Abner die as a fool dies?
34 “Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters;
As one falls before the [a]wicked, you have fallen.”
And all the people wept again over him. 35 Then all the people came (D)to [b]persuade David to eat bread while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, “(E)May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else (F)before the sun goes down.” 36 Now all the people took note of it, and it [c]pleased them, just as everything the king did [d]pleased all the people. 37 So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death. 38 Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?
Discipleship Tested
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, (A)He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 (B)Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the [a]air have [b]nests, but (C)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “(D)Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
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