Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Song of Praise for Being Kept Safe

21 O Lord, in Your strength the king is glad! How great is his joy in Your saving power! ² You have given him the desire of his heart. You have not kept from him anything that he has asked for. ³ For You meet him with gifts of good things. You set a crown of pure gold on his head. ⁴ He asked You for life and You gave it to him, a long life forever and ever. ⁵ His honor is great because of Your help. You have given him greatness and power. ⁶ You have given him honor and respect forever. And You make him glad with the joy of being with You.

⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord. Because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not be shaken. ⁸ Your hand will find all who fight against You. Your right hand will find those who hate You. ⁹ You will make them like a stove of fire in the time of Your anger. The Lord will eat them up in His anger. And the fire will destroy them. ¹⁰ You will destroy their children from the earth, and their sons from the children of men. ¹¹ For they planned much trouble against You. They have made sinful plans that will come to nothing. ¹² For You will make them turn their backs when You take up Your bow against them. ¹³ Be honored in Your strength, O Lord. We will sing and praise Your power.

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre sent men to David with cedar trees and men who build with wood and stone. And they built a house for David. ¹² David understood that the Lord had made him the king of Israel, and that the Lord had given honor to David’s rule because of His people Israel.

¹³ David took more wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron. And more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴ The names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem were Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

The Lord Will Come Again

⁷ Christian brothers, be willing to wait for the Lord to come again. Learn from the farmer. He waits for the good fruit from the earth until the early and late rains come. ⁸ You must be willing to wait also. Be strong in your hearts because the Lord is coming again soon. ⁹ Do not complain about each other, Christian brothers. Then you will not be judged. See! The Judge is standing at the door. ¹⁰ See how the early preachers spoke for the Lord by their suffering and by being willing to wait. ¹¹ We think of those who stayed true to Him as happy even though they suffered. You have heard how long Job waited. You have seen what the Lord did for him in the end. The Lord is full of loving-kindness and pity.

¹² My Christian brothers, do not swear. Do not use heaven or earth or anything else to swear by. If you mean yes, say yes. If you mean no, say no. You will be guilty for saying anything more.