Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 21

For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.

David Anointed King Over Israel^(A)

5 All of the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your bone and flesh. ² Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one leading Israel out and in. Also, the Lord said to you: You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.”

³ So all of the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron. They anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. ⁵ He reigned over Judah from Hebron for seven years and six months, and he reigned over all of Israel and Judah from Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

David Conquers Jerusalem^(B)

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, who were living in the land. They said to David, “You will not enter here; even the blind and the lame will turn you away”—thinking, “David cannot enter here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David overthrew the stronghold of Zion, which is now the City of David.

⁸ David said on that day, “Whoever defeats the Jebusites, let him go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind, who are despised by David.” Therefore, it is said, “The blind and lame shall not come into the house.”

⁹ So David occupied the stronghold, and he called it the City of David. He built on all sides from the terraces inward. ¹⁰ David went on and became great, because the Lord, the God of Hosts, was with him.

Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶ I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. Otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, so that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸ Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. ¹⁹ For you tolerate fools gladly, seeing you yourselves are wise. ²⁰ For you permit it if a man brings you into bondage, if a man devours you, if a man takes from you, if a man exalts himself, or if a man strikes you on the face. ²¹ I say to my reproach that we were too weak for that.

But whenever anyone is bold (I speak foolishly), I am bold also. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in the deep; ²⁶ in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brothers; ²⁷ in weariness and painfulness, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness. ²⁸ Beside the external things, the care of all the churches pressures me daily. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I am not distressed?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things which concern my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forevermore, knows that I am not lying. ³² In Damascus the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me. ³³ But I was let down by the wall through a window in a basket and escaped his hands.