Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Song of Praise

92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and sing praises to Your name, O Most High. ² It is good to tell of Your loving-kindness in the morning, and of how faithful You are at night, ³ with harps, and with music of praise. ⁴ For You have made me glad by what You have done, O Lord. I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

¹² The man who is right and good will grow like the palm tree. He will grow like a tall tree in Lebanon. ¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord, they will grow well in the home of our God. ¹⁴ They will still give fruit when they are old. They will be full of life and strength. ¹⁵ And they will show that the Lord is faithful. He is my rock. There is nothing in Him that is not right and good.

13 A wise son listens when his father tells him the right way, but one who laughs at the truth does not listen when strong words are spoken to him.

² The one who is careful what he says will have good come to him, but the one who wants to hurt others will have trouble.

³ He who watches over his mouth keeps his life. He who opens his lips wide will be destroyed.

⁴ The soul of the lazy person has strong desires but gets nothing, but the soul of the one who does his best gets more than he needs.

⁵ A man who is right with God hates lies, but the actions of a sinful man are hated and he is put to shame.

⁶ What is right and good watches over the one whose way is without blame, but sin destroys the sinful.

⁷ There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing. Another pretends to be poor, but has many riches.

⁸ A rich man can use his riches to save his life, but the poor man does not hear strong words spoken to him.

⁹ Those who are right with God are full of light, but the lamp of the sinful will be put out.

¹⁰ Fighting comes only from pride, but wisdom is with those who listen when told what they should do.

¹¹ Riches taken by false ways become less and less, but riches grow for the one who gathers by hard work.

¹² Hope that is put off makes the heart sick, but a desire that comes into being is a tree of life.

¹² This is what happened: Sin came into the world by one man, Adam. Sin brought death with it. Death spread to all men because all have sinned. ¹³ Sin was in the world before the Law was given. But sin is not held against a person when there is no Law. ¹⁴ And yet death had power over men from the time of Adam until the time of Moses. Even the power of death was over those who had not sinned in the same way Adam sinned. Adam was like the One Who was to come.

¹⁵ God’s free gift is not like the sin of Adam. Many people died because of the sin of this one man, Adam. But the loving-favor of God came to many people also. This gift came also by one Man Jesus Christ, God’s Son. ¹⁶ The free gift of God is not like Adam’s sin. God told Adam he was guilty because of his sin and through this one came sin and guilt. But the free gift makes men right with God. Through One, Christ, men’s sins are forgiven. ¹⁷ The power of death was over all men because of the sin of one man, Adam. But many people will receive His loving-favor and the gift of being made right with God. They will have power in life by Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ Through Adam’s sin, death and hell came to all men. But another Man, Christ, by His right act makes men free and gives them life. ¹⁹ Adam did not obey God, and many people become sinners through him. Christ obeyed God and makes many people right with Himself.

²⁰ Sin spread when the Law was given. But where sin spread, God’s loving-favor spread all the more. ²¹ Sin had power that ended in death. Now, God’s loving-favor has power to make men right with Himself. It gives life that lasts forever. Our Lord Jesus Christ did this for us.

6 What does this mean? Are we to keep on sinning so that God will give us more of His loving-favor? ² No, not at all! We are dead to sin. How then can we keep on living in sin?