Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
By David.
144 Thank the Lord, my rock,
who trained my hands to fight
and my fingers to do battle,
2 my merciful one, my fortress,
my stronghold, and my savior,
my shield, the one in whom I take refuge,
and the one who brings people under my authority.
3 O Lord, what are humans that you should care about them?
What are mere mortals that you should think about them?
4 Humans are like a breath of air.
Their life span is like a fleeting shadow.
5 O Lord, bend your heaven low, and come down.
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
6 Hurl bolts of lightning, and scatter them.
Shoot your arrows, and throw them into confusion.
7 Stretch out your hands from above.
Snatch me, and rescue me from raging waters
and from foreigners’ hands.
8 Their mouths speak lies.
Their right hands take false pledges.
9 O God, I will sing a new song to you.
I will sing a psalm to you on a ten-stringed harp.
10 You are the one who gives victory to kings.
You are the one who snatches your servant David
away from a deadly sword.
11 Snatch me, and rescue me from foreigners’ hands.
Their mouths speak lies.
Their right hands take false pledges.
12 May our sons be like full-grown, young plants.
May our daughters be like stately columns
that adorn the corners of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled with all kinds of crops.
May our sheep give birth to thousands of lambs,
tens of thousands in our fields.
14 May our cattle have many calves.
May no one break in, and may no one be dragged out.
May there be no cries of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people who have these blessings!
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
The Lord’s People Will Worship on His Holy Mountain
27 On that day the Lord will use his fierce and powerful sword
to punish Leviathan, that slippery snake,
Leviathan, that twisting snake.
He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.
2 On that day sing about a delightful vineyard.
3 I, the Lord, watch over it.
I water it continually.
I watch over it day and night
so that no one will harm it.
4 I am no longer angry.
If only thorns and briars would confront me!
I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for protection.
Let them make peace with me.
Yes, let them make peace with me.
6 In times to come Jacob will take root.
Israel will blossom, bud,
and fill the whole world with fruit.
17 Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. 18 God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. 19 In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. 20 Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. 21 God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.
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