Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 18[a]
For the choir director; by David, the servant of Yahweh. He sang this song to Yahweh when Yahweh rescued him from all his enemies, especially from Saul. He said,
1 I love you, O Yahweh, my strength.
2 Yahweh is my rock and my Metsuda and my Savior,
my El, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my Magen, and the strength of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3 Yahweh should be praised.
I called on him, and I was saved from my enemies.
20 Yahweh rewarded me
because of my righteousness,
because my hands are clean.
He paid me back
21 because I have kept the ways of Yahweh
and I have not wickedly turned away from my Elohim,
22 because all his judgments are in front of me
and I have not turned away from his laws.
23 I was innocent as far as he was concerned.
I have kept myself from guilt.
24 Yahweh paid me back
because of my righteousness,
because he can see that my hands are clean.
25 In dealing with faithful people you are faithful,
with innocent people you are innocent,
26 with pure people you are pure.
In dealing with devious people you are clever.
27 You save humble people,
but you bring down a conceited look.
28 O Yahweh, you light my lamp.
My Elohim turns my darkness into light.
29 With you I can attack a line of soldiers.
With my Elohim I can break through barricades.
30 El’s way is perfect!
The promise of Yahweh has proven to be true.
He is a Magen to all those who take refuge in him.
31 Who is Eloah but Yahweh?
Who is a rock except our Elohim?
32 El arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
A Message to Jerusalem
14 So hear the word of Yahweh, you foolish talkers
who rule the people in Jerusalem.
15 You say, “We made a treaty with death
and an agreement with the grave.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
it won’t matter to us,
because we have taken refuge in our lies,
and falsehood is our hiding place.”
16 This is what Adonay Yahweh says:
I am going to lay a rock in Zion,
a rock that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone,
a solid foundation.
Whoever believes in him will not worry.
17 I will make justice a measuring line
and righteousness a plumb line.
Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floodwaters will wash away your hiding place.
18 Your treaty with death will be wiped away.
Your agreement with the grave will not stand.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
you will be trampled by it.
19 Each time it passes by it will take you.
It will pass by morning after morning,
during the day and during the night.
Understanding this message brings only terror.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on.
The blanket is too narrow to serve as a cover.
21 Yahweh will rise as he did on Mount Perazim.
He will wake up as he did in Gibeon Valley.
He will do his work, his unexpected work,
and perform his deeds, his mysterious deeds.
22 Now stop laughing, or your chains will be tightened,
because I have heard that Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth
has finally determined to destroy the whole land.
A Woman Prepares Jesus’ Body for the Tomb(A)
6 Yeshua was in Bethany in the home of Simon, a man who had suffered from a skin disease. 7 While Yeshua was sitting there, a woman went to him with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it on his head.
8 The disciples were irritated when they saw this. They asked, “Why did she waste it like this? 9 It could have been sold for a high price, and the money could have been given to the poor.”
10 Since Yeshua knew what was going on, he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 11 You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me with you. 12 She poured this perfume on my body before it is placed in a tomb. 13 I can guarantee this truth: Wherever this Good News is spoken in the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.