Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Psalm.
The Lord Shepherds His People
23 The Lord is the one who is shepherding me;
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass;
he guides me beside quiet waters.
3 He revives my life;
he leads me in pathways that are righteous
for the sake of his name.[a]
4 Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness,[b]
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me,
even in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will remain in[c] the Lord’s Temple forever.[d]
The True God and Worthless Idols
10 Hear the message that the Lord has spoken to you, house of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t learn the way of the nations,
and don’t be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified of them.
3 For the practices[a] of the people are worthless.
Indeed, a tree is cut down from the forest;
it’s the work of the hands of a craftsman[b] with an ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold.
They secure it with nails and hammers
so it won’t totter.
5 Their idols[c] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.
They can’t speak!
They must always be carried
because they can’t walk!
Don’t be afraid of them
because they can do no harm,
nor can they do any good.”
6 There is no one like you, Lord.
You are great, and your name is great and powerful.
7 Who wouldn’t fear you, king of the nations?
This is what you deserve!
Indeed, among all the wise men of the nations,
and throughout all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you!
8 Everyone is stupid[d] and senseless.
They follow worthless instruction
from a piece of wood![e]
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz.
The idols are[f] the work of a craftsman[g]
and of the hands of a goldsmith.
Their clothing is violet and purple.
The idols[h] are all the work of skilled craftsmen.
10 The Lord is the true God;
he’s the living God and the everlasting king.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 [i]Tell this to them: “The gods who[j] didn’t make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from these heavens.”
A Hymn of Praise to God
12 The Lord is[k] the one who made
the world by his power,
who established the earth by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
13 When his voice sounds there is thunder
from the waters of heaven,
and he makes clouds rise up from
the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings wind out of his storehouses.
14 Everyone is stupid[l] and without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false.[m]
There is no life[n] in them.
15 They’re worthless, a work of mockery,
and when the time of punishment comes,[o]
they’ll perish.
16 The Portion of Jacob[p] is not like these.
He made everything,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance.
The Lord of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
The Centrality of Jesus
15 The Son[a] is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created,
things visible and invisible,
whether they are kings,[b] lords, rulers, or powers.
All things have been created through him and for him.
17 He himself existed before anything else did,
and he holds all things together.
18 He is also the head of the body,
which is the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he himself might have first place in everything.
19 For God[c] was pleased to have
all of his divine essence[d] inhabit him.
20 Through the Son,[e] God[f] also reconciled all things to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
thereby making peace
through the blood of his cross.
21 You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil,[g] 22 he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him. 23 However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.[h]
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