Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Victory
Of David.
144 Praise the Lord, my Rock.
He trains me for war.
He trains me for battle.
2 He gives me love and protects me like a strong, walled city.
He is my place of safety and my Savior.
He is my shield and my protection.
He helps me rule my people.
3 Lord, why is man important to you?
Why do you even think about a human being?
4 A man is like a breath.
His life is like a passing shadow.
5 Lord, tear open the sky and come down.
Touch the mountains so they will smoke.
6 Send the lightning and scatter my enemies.
Shoot your arrows and force them away.
7 Reach down from above.
Pull me out of this sea of enemies.
Rescue me from these foreigners.
8 They are liars.
They are dishonest.
9 God, I will sing a new song to you.
I will play to you on the ten-stringed harp.
10 You give victory to kings.
You save your servant David from cruel swords.
11 Save me, rescue me from these foreigners.
They are liars.
They are dishonest.
12 Let our sons in their youth
grow like strong trees.
Let our daughters be
like the decorated stones in the Temple.
13 Let our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
Let our sheep in the fields have
thousands and thousands of lambs.
14 Let our cattle be strong.
Let no one break in.
Let there be no war.
Let there be no screams in our streets.
15 Happy are those who are like this.
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
The Friends Speak
5 Who is this coming out of the desert,
leaning on her lover?
The Man Speaks to the Woman
I woke you under the apple tree.
It was there that you were born.
There your mother gave birth to you.
6 Put me like a seal on your heart,
like a seal on your arm.
Love is as strong as death.
Desire is as strong as the grave.
Love bursts into flames.
It burns like a very hot fire.
7 Even much water cannot put out the flame of love.
Floods cannot drown love.
If a man offered everything in his house for love,
people would totally reject it.
The Woman’s Brothers Speak
8 We have a little sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What should we do for our sister
on the day she becomes engaged?
9 If she is a wall,
we will put silver towers on her.
If she is a door,
we will protect her with cedar boards.
The Woman Speaks
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
So I was to him,
as one who brings happiness.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He rented the vineyards for others to tend.
Everyone who rented had to pay
25 pounds of silver for the fruit.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give.
Solomon, the 25 pounds of silver are for you.
And 5 pounds are for those who tend the fruit.
The Man Speaks to the Woman
13 You who live in the gardens,
my friends are listening for your voice.
Let me hear it!
The Woman Speaks to the Man
14 Hurry, my lover.
Be like a gazelle
or a young deer
on the mountains where spices grow.
The Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus
45 There were many Jews who had come to visit Mary. They saw what Jesus did. And many of them believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish council. They asked, “What should we do? This man is doing many miracles. 48 If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our Temple and our nation.”
49 One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. Caiaphas said, “You people know nothing! 50 It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. But you don’t realize this.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. He was high priest that year. So he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation 52 and for God’s scattered children. This would bring them all together and make them one.
53 That day they started planning to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the Jews. He left there and went to a place near the desert. He went to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his followers.
55 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. Many from the country went up to Jerusalem before the Passover. They went to do the special things to make themselves pure. 56 The people looked for Jesus. They stood in the Temple and were asking each other, “Is he coming to the Feast? What do you think?” 57 But the leading priests and the Pharisees had given orders about Jesus. They said that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must tell them. Then they could arrest Jesus.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.