Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord—Our Shepherd

23 The Lord is my Shepherd. I will have everything I need. ² He lets me rest in fields of green grass. He leads me beside the quiet waters. ³ He makes me strong again. He leads me in the way of living right with Himself which brings honor to His name. ⁴ Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide and one with which to help. These comfort me. ⁵ You are making a table of food ready for me in front of those who hate me. You have poured oil on my head. I have everything I need. ⁶ For sure, You will give me goodness and loving-kindness all the days of my life. Then I will live with You in Your house forever.

⁸ Then God took away the safe-covering of Judah. In that day you trusted in the objects you had to fight with that were stored in the house among the trees. ⁹ You saw that there were many broken places in the wall of the city of David. You stored water in the lower pool. ¹⁰ Then you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and tore down houses to make the wall stronger. ¹¹ You made a place to store water between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. But you did not trust in God Who made it. You did not think about Him Who planned it long ago.

¹² So in that day the Lord God of All called you to cry in sorrow, to cut off the hair from your head, and to wear cloth made from hair. ¹³ But instead, there is joy and happiness, killing of cattle and sheep, eating of meat, and drinking of wine. You say, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ¹⁴ But the Lord of All has made Himself known to me. The Lord God of All says, “For sure you will not be forgiven for this sin until you die.”

⁴ You are as wives and husbands who are not faithful in marriage and do sex sins. Do you not know that to love the sinful things of the world and to be a friend to them is to be against God? Yes, I say it again, if you are a friend of the world, you are against God. ⁵ Do you think the Holy Writings mean nothing when they said, “The Holy Spirit Whom God has given to live in us has a strong desire for us to be faithful to Him”?

⁶ But He gives us more loving-favor. For the Holy Writings say, “God works against the proud but gives loving-favor to those who have no pride.” ^{(A) 7} So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Clean up your hearts, you who want to follow the sinful ways of the world and God at the same time. ⁹ Be sorry for your sins and cry because of them. Be sad and do not laugh. Let your joy be turned to sorrow. ¹⁰ Let yourself be brought low before the Lord. Then He will lift you up and help you.