Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song of Praise[a]
92 How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,
to sing in your honor, O Most High God,
2 to proclaim your constant love every morning
and your faithfulness every night,
3 with the music of stringed instruments
and with melody on the harp.
4 Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad;
because of what you have done, I sing for joy.
12 The righteous will flourish like palm trees;
they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord,
that flourish in the Temple of our God,
14 that still bear fruit in old age
and are always green and strong.
15 This shows that the Lord is just,
that there is no wrong in my protector.
13 Wise children pay attention when their parents correct them, but arrogant people never admit they are wrong.
2 Good people will be rewarded for what they say, but those who are deceitful are hungry for violence.
3 (A)Be careful what you say and protect your life. A careless talker destroys himself.
4 No matter how much a lazy person may want something, he will never get it. A hard worker will get everything he wants.
5 Honest people hate lies, but the words of wicked people are shameful and disgraceful.
6 Righteousness protects the innocent; wickedness is the downfall of sinners.
7 Some people pretend to be rich, but have nothing. Others pretend to be poor, but own a fortune.
8 The rich have to use their money to save their lives, but no one threatens the poor.
9 The righteous are like a light shining brightly; the wicked are like a lamp flickering out.
10 Arrogance causes nothing but trouble. It is wiser to ask for advice.
11 The more easily you get your wealth, the sooner you will lose it. The harder it is to earn, the more you will have.
12 When hope is crushed, the heart is crushed, but a wish come true fills you with joy.
Adam and Christ
12 (A)Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned. 13 There was sin in the world before the Law was given; but where there is no law, no account is kept of sins. 14 But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, death ruled over all human beings, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God's command.
Adam was a figure of the one who was to come. 15 But the two are not the same, because God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God's grace is much greater, and so is his free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. 16 And there is a difference between God's gift and the sin of one man. After the one sin, came the judgment of “Guilty”; but after so many sins, comes the undeserved gift of “Not guilty!” 17 It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God's abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.
18 (B)So then, as the one sin condemned all people, in the same way the one righteous act sets all people free and gives them life. 19 And just as all people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way they will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man.
20 Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God's grace increased much more. 21 So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God's grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Dead to Sin but Alive in Union with Christ
6 What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase? 2 Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in it?
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.