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Psalm 42

1  As the deer longs for the water brooks, ♦︎
   so longs my soul for you, O God.
2  My soul is athirst for God, even for the living God; ♦︎
   when shall I come before the presence of God?
3  My tears have been my bread day and night, ♦︎
   while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’
4  Now when I think on these things, I pour out my soul: ♦︎
   how I went with the multitude
      and led the procession to the house of God,
5  With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, ♦︎
   among those who kept holy day.
6  Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, ♦︎
   and why are you so disquieted within me?
7  O put your trust in God; ♦︎
   for I will yet give him thanks,
      who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8  My soul is heavy within me; ♦︎
   therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
      and from Hermon and the hill of Mizar.
9  Deep calls to deep in the thunder of your waterfalls; ♦︎
   all your breakers and waves have gone over me.
10  The Lord will grant his loving-kindness in the daytime; ♦︎
   through the night his song will be with me,
      a prayer to the God of my life.
11  I say to God my rock,
      ‘Why have you forgotten me, ♦︎
   and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresses me?’
12  As they crush my bones, my enemies mock me; ♦︎
   while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is now your God?’
13  Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, ♦︎
   and why are you so disquieted within me?
14  O put your trust in God; ♦︎
   for I will yet give him thanks,
      who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Psalm 43

1  Give judgement for me, O God,
      and defend my cause against an ungodly people; ♦︎
   deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.
2  For you are the God of my refuge;
      why have you cast me from you, ♦︎
   and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresses me?
3  O send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, ♦︎
   and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling,
4  That I may go to the altar of God,
      to the God of my joy and gladness; ♦︎
   and on the lyre I will give thanks to you, O God my God.
5  Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, ♦︎
   and why are you so disquieted within me?
6  O put your trust in God; ♦︎
   for I will yet give him thanks,
      who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

5 Now Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king’; he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, ‘Why have you done that?’ He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. ⁷He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah. ⁸But the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei, and Rei, and David’s own warriors did not side with Adonijah.

9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatted cattle by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, ¹⁰but he did not invite the prophet Nathan or Benaiah or the warriors or his brother Solomon.

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

15 So Bathsheba went to the king in his room. The king was very old; Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king. ¹⁶Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, ‘What do you wish?’ ¹⁷She said to him, ‘My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne. ¹⁸But now suddenly Adonijah has become king, though you, my lord the king, do not know it. ¹⁹He has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the children of the king, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army; but your servant Solomon he has not invited. ²⁰But you, my lord the king—the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his ancestors, that my son Solomon and I will be counted offenders.’

22 While she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan came in. ²³The king was told, ‘Here is the prophet Nathan.’ When he came in before the king, he did obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground. ²⁴Nathan said, ‘My lord the king, have you said, “Adonijah shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne”? ²⁵For today he has gone down and has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s children, Joab the commander^* of the army, and the priest Abiathar, who are now eating and drinking before him, and saying, “Long live King Adonijah!” ²⁶But he did not invite me, your servant, and the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon. ²⁷Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not let your servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?’

The Accession of Solomon

28 King David answered, ‘Summon Bathsheba to me.’ So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. ²⁹The king swore, saying, ‘As the Lord lives, who has saved my life from every adversity, ³⁰as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, “Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne in my place”, so will I do this day.’ ³¹Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and did obeisance to the king, and said, ‘May my lord King David live for ever!’

The Desolating Sacrilege

14 ‘But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; ¹⁵someone on the housetop must not go down or enter the house to take anything away; ¹⁶someone in the field must not turn back to get a coat. ¹⁷Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not be in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days. ²¹And if anyone says to you at that time, “Look! Here is the Messiah!”^* or “Look! There he is!”—do not believe it. ²²False messiahs^* and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³But be alert; I have already told you everything.

The Coming of the Son of Man

24 ‘But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
   and the moon will not give its light,
²⁵ and the stars will be falling from heaven,
   and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
²⁶Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. ²⁷Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.