Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord is King!^[a]

¹⁶ Some other men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David in his strong place. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them. He said to them, ‘I hope that you have come here as my friends. If you have come to help me, I will make an agreement with you. But I hope that you have not come here to help my enemies and to tell them where I am hiding. I have not done anything wrong. So I pray that the God of our ancestors will see what you do. He will punish you as you deserve!’

¹⁸ Then God's Spirit came to Amasai with power. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers. He said,

So David accepted them as his friends. He made them officers in his army.

The men of Manasseh's tribe who joined David's army

¹⁹ Some men from Manasseh's tribe also joined David's army. That was at the time when David joined with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men were not able to help the Philistines like that. That was because the leaders of the Philistines decided to send David and his men away. They said, ‘David may turn against us and go to help his master Saul, instead. If he does that, we will all be dead!’

²⁰ So David returned to Ziklag. These men from Manasseh's tribe joined David's army at that time:

²¹ All those men were brave soldiers and they became officers in David's army. They helped David to fight against the enemy's soldiers when they attacked.

²² Every day more men came to help David. So his army became very large and powerful, like God's own army.

⁵ God, who was sitting on the throne, said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, because these words are true. Everyone should believe them.’

⁶ He also said to me, ‘Everything is now done! I caused all things to begin and I will cause the end of all things. I am the beginning and the end. If anyone is thirsty, I will give them water to drink. Nobody will have to pay anything for it. That water comes from a spring of water that gives life to people. ⁷ Everyone who wins against Satan will receive all these things from me. I will be their God and they will be my children.

⁸ But I will punish other people. They include:

All these people will go into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the second death for people.’

New city of Jerusalem

⁹ Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls that were full of the seven final troubles came to me. He said, ‘Come with me! I will show you the bride who will become the Lamb's wife.’

¹⁰ Then God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a great mountain that was very high. He showed me God's own holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It had the bright glory of God. It shone like a valuable jewel that is called jasper. It shone like clean glass. ¹² The city had a very big, high wall round it. The wall had 12 gates in it. 12 angels stood at the 12 gates. The names of the 12 tribes of Israel's people were written on the 12 gates. ¹³ There were three gates on each side of the city:

¹⁴ The city's wall has a foundation of 12 strong stones. The names of the Lamb's 12 apostles were written on those 12 stones.^[a]