Psalm 23; Psalm 24; 1 Kings 1:1–18; 1 Kings 1:29–40; Ephesians 5:18–33

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Psalm 23

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my dshepherd; I shall not ewant.

He makes me lie down in green fpastures.

He leads me beside still waters.1

He grestores my soul.

He hleads me in ipaths of righteousness2

for his jname’s sake.

Even though I kwalk through the valley of lthe shadow of death,3

I will mfear no evil,

for nyou are with me;

your orod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You pprepare a table before me

in qthe presence of my enemies;

you ranoint my head with oil;

my scup overflows.

Surely4 goodness and mercy5 shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall tdwell6 in the house of the Lord

uforever.7


Psalm 24

The King of Glory

A Psalm of David.

vThe earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,1

the world and those who dwell therein,

for he has wfounded it upon xthe seas

and established it upon the rivers.

yWho shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand in his zholy place?

aHe who has bclean hands and ca pure heart,

who does not dlift up his soul to ewhat is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive fblessing from the Lord

and grighteousness from hthe God of his salvation.

Such is ithe generation of those who seek him,

who jseek the face of the God of Jacob.2 Selah

kLift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that lthe King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty,

the Lord, mmighty in battle!

Lift up your heads, O gates!

And lift them up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

10  Who is this King of glory?

nThe Lord of hosts,

he is the King of glory! Selah


1 Kings 1:1–18

David in His Old Age

Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. Therefore his servants said to him, Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms,1 that my lord the king may be warm. So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the aShunammite, and brought her to the king. The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not.

Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

Now bAdonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king. cAnd he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, Why have you done thus and so? He was also a very handsome man, dand he was born next after Absalom. He conferred with eJoab the son of Zeruiah and with fAbiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. But fZadok the priest and gBenaiah the son of Jehoiada and hNathan the prophet and iShimei and Rei and jDavid’s mighty men were not with Adonijah.

Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside kEn-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or lSolomon his brother.

Nathan and Bathsheba Before David

11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, Have you not heard that bAdonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? 12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in at once to King David, and say to him, Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, mSolomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king? 14 Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm2 your words.

15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king). 16 Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, What do you desire? 17 She said to him, My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, mSolomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne. 18 And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it.


1 Kings 1:29–40

29 And the king swore, saying, rAs the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, 30 sas I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, even so will I do this day. 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, tMay my lord King David live forever!

32 King David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. So they came before the king. 33 And the king said to them, Take with you uthe servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to vGihon. 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there wanoint him king over Israel. xThen blow the trumpet and say, yLong live King Solomon! 35 You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so. 37 zAs the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, aand make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.

38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, band the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon. 39 There Zadok the priest took the horn of coil from the tent and danointed Solomon. xThen they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, yLong live King Solomon! 40 And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.


Ephesians 5:18–33

18 And sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is tdebauchery, but ube filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 wgiving thanks always and for everything to God the Father xin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ysubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

22 zWives, asubmit to your own husbands, bas to the Lord. 23 For cthe husband is the head of the wife even as dChrist is the head of the church, his body, and is ehimself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit fin everything to their husbands.

25 gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and hgave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ithe washing of water jwith the word, 27 so kthat he might present the church to himself in splendor, lwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.1 28 In the same way mhusbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because nwe are members of his body. 31 oTherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and pthe two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, qlet each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she rrespects her husband.