Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord—Our Helper

146 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! ² I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. ³ Do not put your trust in princes, in a son of a man, who cannot save us. ⁴ When his spirit leaves, he returns to the earth. His thoughts end on that day. ⁵ Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. ⁶ The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. He is faithful forever. ⁷ He helps those who have a bad power over them. He gives food to the hungry. And He sets those in prison free.

⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are brought down. The Lord loves those who are right and good. ⁹ The Lord keeps the strangers safe. He takes care of the children who have no father and the woman whose husband has died. But He destroys the way of the sinful. ¹⁰ The Lord will rule forever. Your God, O Zion, will rule over all people for all time. Praise the Lord!

² The rich and the poor meet together. The Lord is the maker of them all. ³ A wise man sees sin and hides himself, but the foolish go on, and are punished for it.

⁴ The reward for not having pride and having the fear of the Lord is riches, honor and life.

⁵ Thorns and traps are in the way of the sinful. He who watches himself will stay far from them.

⁶ Bring up a child by teaching him the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it.

⁷ The rich rules over the poor. The man who uses something that belongs to someone else is ruled by the one who let him use it.

⁸ He who plants sin will gather trouble, and the heavy stick of his anger will break.

⁹ He who gives much will be honored, for he gives some of his food to the poor.

¹⁰ Send away the man who laughs at the truth, and arguing, fighting and shame will stop.

¹¹ He who loves a pure heart and is kind in his speaking has the king as his friend.

¹² The eyes of the Lord keep watch over much learning, but He destroys the words of the man who is not faithful.

¹³ The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴ The mouth of a sinful woman is a deep hole. He with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.

¹⁵ A foolish way is held in the heart of a child, but the punishing stick will send it far from him.

¹⁶ He who makes it hard for the poor by getting more for himself, or who gives to the rich, will become poor himself.

⁸ I am not saying that you must do this, but I have told you how others have helped. This is a way to prove how true your love is. ⁹ You know of the loving-favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ. He was rich, but He became poor for your good. In that way, because He became poor, you might become rich.

¹⁰ This is what I think. You had better finish what you started a year ago. You were the first to want to give a gift of money. ¹¹ Now do it with the same strong desires you had when you started. ¹² If a man is ready and willing to give, he should give of what he has, not of what he does not have. ¹³ This does not mean that others do not have to give and you have to give much. You should share alike. ¹⁴ You have more than you need now. When you have need, then they can help you. You should share alike. ¹⁵ The Holy Writings say, “The man who gathered much did not have too much. The man who did not gather much had enough.” ^(A)