Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 126
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents.
8 Bring forth the people who are blind yet have eyes,
who are deaf yet have ears!(A)
9 Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, “It is true.”(B)
10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.(C)
11 I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.(D)
12 I am the one who declared and saved and proclaimed,
not some strange god among you;
you are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.(E)
13 Indeed, since that day I am he;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can hinder it?(F)
25 Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and coworker and fellow soldier, your messenger[a] and minister to my need,(A) 26 for he has been longing for[b] all of you and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious. 29 Welcome him, then, in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people,(B) 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ,[c] risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.
3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
Breaking with the Past
To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a source of steadfastness.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.