Old Testament: 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

¹Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh. ²For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The Lord said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.” ³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. ⁵At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. ⁹David occupied the stronghold, and named it the city of David. David built the city all around from the Millo inwards. ¹⁰And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.

Psalm: Psalm 48

¹ Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; *
       in the city of our God is his holy hill.
² Beautiful and lofty, the joy of all the earth, is the hill of Zion, *
       the very center of the world and the city of the great King.
³ God is in her citadels; *
       he is known to be her sure refuge.
⁴ Behold, the kings of the earth assembled *
       and marched forward together.
⁵ They looked and were astounded; *
       they retreated and fled in terror.
⁶ Trembling seized them there; *
       they writhed like a woman in childbirth,
       like ships of the sea when the east wind shatters them.
⁷ As we have heard, so have we seen,
   in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; *
       God has established her for ever.
⁸ We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God, *
       in the midst of your temple.
⁹ Your praise, like your Name, O God, reaches to the world’s end; *
       your right hand is full of justice.
¹⁰ Let Mount Zion be glad
   and the cities of Judah rejoice, *
       because of your judgments.
¹¹ Make the circuit of Zion;
   walk round about her; *
       count the number of her towers.
¹² Consider well her bulwarks;
   examine her strongholds; *
       that you may tell those who come after.
¹³ This God is our God for ever and ever; *
       he shall be our guide for evermore.

Old Testament: Ezekiel 2:1-5

¹He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. ²And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. ³He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” ⁵Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Psalm: Psalm 123

¹ To you I lift up my eyes, *
       to you enthroned in the heavens.
² As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, *
       and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
³ So our eyes look to the Lord our God, *
       until he show us his mercy.
⁴ Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy, *
       for we have had more than enough of contempt,
⁵ Too much of the scorn of the indolent rich, *
       and of the derision of the proud.