Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Thanksgiving for Victory

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

David Anointed King of All Israel

5 ^[a]Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. ² In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you that led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. ⁵ At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

Jerusalem Made Capital of the United Kingdom

⁶ And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jeb′usites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame^[b] will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁸ And David said on that day, “Whoever would smite the Jeb′usites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” ⁹ And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built the city round about from the Millo inward. ¹⁰ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.

Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶ I repeat, let no one think me foolish; but even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. ¹⁷ (What I am saying I say not with the Lord’s authority but as a fool, in this boastful confidence; ¹⁸ since many boast of worldly things, I too will boast.) ¹⁹ For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! ²⁰ For you bear it if a man makes slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!

But whatever any one dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. ²⁴ Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie. ³² At Damascus, the governor under King Ar′etas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, ³³ but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands.