Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A miktam of David.
16 Protect me, God, because I depend on you.
2 Some of you[a] have said to the Lord,
“You are my Lord.
Every good thing I have comes from you.”
3 But you have also said about the gods[b] of this land,
“They are my powerful gods.
They are the ones who make me happy.”
4 But those who worship other gods will have many troubles.
I will not share in the gifts of blood they offer to their idols.
I will not even say their names.
5 Lord, you give me all that I need.
You support me.
You give me my share.
6 My share[c] is wonderful.
My inheritance[d] is very beautiful.
7 I praise the Lord because he taught me well.
Even at night he put his instructions deep inside my mind.[e]
8 I always remember that the Lord is with me.[f]
He is here, close by my side,
so nothing can defeat me.
9 So my heart and soul will be very happy.
Even my body will live in safety,
10 because you will not leave me in the place of death.
You will not let your faithful one rot in the grave.
11 You will teach me the right way to live.
Just being with you will bring complete happiness.
Being at your right side will make me happy forever.
28 All these things happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29-30 Twelve months after the dream, King Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof[a] of his palace in Babylon. While on the roof, the king said, “Look at Babylon! I built this great city. It is my palace. I built this great place by my power. I built this place to show how great I am.”
31 The words were still in his mouth when a voice came from heaven. The voice said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, these things will happen to you: Your power as king has been taken away from you. 32 You will be forced to go away from people. You will live with the wild animals and eat grass like an ox. Seven seasons will pass before you learn your lesson. Then you will learn that God Most High rules over human kingdoms and gives them to whoever he wants.”
33 These things happened immediately. Nebuchadnezzar was forced to go away from people. He began eating grass like an ox. He became wet from dew. His hair grew long like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails grew long like the claws of a bird.
34 Then at the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and I was in my right mind again. Then I gave praise to God Most High. I gave honor and glory to him who lives forever.
God rules forever!
His kingdom continues for all generations.
35 People on earth
are not really important.
God does what he wants
with the powers of heaven
and the people on earth.
No one can stop his powerful hand
or question what he does.
36 At that time God gave me my right mind again, and he gave back my great honor and power as king. My advisors and the royal people began to ask my advice again. I became the king again—even greater and more powerful than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise, honor, and glory to the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right. He is always fair, and he is able to make proud people humble!
God Sends His Son(A)
12 Jesus used stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip.
2 “Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him. They sent him away with nothing. 4 Then the man sent another servant to the farmers. They hit this servant on the head, showing no respect for him. 5 So the man sent another servant. The farmers killed this servant. The man sent many other servants to the farmers. The farmers beat some of them and killed the others.
6 “The man had only one person left to send to the farmers. It was his son. He loved his son, but he decided to send him. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’
7 “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son, and this vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 8 So they took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
9 “So what will the man who owns the vineyard do? He will go and kill those farmers. Then he will lease the land to others. 10 Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders refused to accept
became the cornerstone.
11 The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’” (B)
12 When these Jewish leaders heard this story, they knew it was about them. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of what the crowd would do. So they left him and went away.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International