Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
All Good Things Come from God
A song for going up to worship. Of Solomon.
127 If the Lord doesn’t build the house,
the builders are working for nothing.
If the Lord doesn’t guard the city,
the guards are watching for nothing.
2 It is no use for you to get up early
and stay up late,
working for a living.
The Lord gives sleep to those he loves.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
babies are a reward.
4 Children who are born to a young man
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
5 Happy is the man
who has his bag full of arrows.
They will not be defeated
when they fight their enemies at the city gate.
The Problems of Old Age
12 Remember your Creator
while you are young,
before the days of trouble come
and the years when you say,
“I find no pleasure in them.”
2 When you get old,
the light from the sun, moon, and stars will grow dark;
the rain clouds will never seem to go away.
3 At that time your arms will shake
and your legs will become weak.
Your teeth will fall out so you cannot chew,
and your eyes will not see clearly.
4 Your ears will be deaf to the noise in the streets,
and you will barely hear the millstone grinding grain.
You’ll wake up when a bird starts singing,
but you will barely hear singing.
5 You will fear high places
and will be afraid to go for a walk.
Your hair will become white like the flowers on an almond tree.
You will limp along like a grasshopper when you walk.
Your appetite will be gone.
Then you will go to your everlasting home,
and people will go to your funeral.
6 Soon your life will snap like a silver chain
or break like a golden bowl.
You will be like a broken pitcher at a spring,
or a broken wheel at a well.
7 You will turn back into the dust of the earth again,
but your spirit will return to God who gave it.
8 Everything is useless!
The Teacher says that everything is useless.
13 Now, everything has been heard,
so I give my final advice:
Honor God and obey his commands,
because this is all people must do.
14 God will judge everything,
even what is done in secret,
the good and the evil.
Don’t Worry
22 Jesus said to his followers, “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. 24 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest, they don’t have storerooms or barns, but God feeds them. And you are worth much more than birds. 25 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. 26 If you cannot do even the little things, then why worry about the big things? 27 Consider how the lilies grow; they don’t work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 28 God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So how much more will God clothe you? Don’t have so little faith! 29 Don’t always think about what you will eat or what you will drink, and don’t keep worrying. 30 All the people in the world are trying to get these things, and your Father knows you need them. 31 But seek God’s kingdom, and all your other needs will be met as well.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.