Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 16

A Poem of David; [probably] intended to record memorable thoughts.

¹ Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have found refuge, and in You do I put my trust and hide myself.

² I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside or beyond You.

³ As for the godly (the saints) who are in the land, they are the excellent, the noble, and the glorious, in whom is all my delight.

⁴ Their sorrows shall be multiplied who choose another god; their drink offerings of blood will I not offer or take their names upon my lips.

⁵ The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot.

⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage.

⁷ I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

⁸ I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety,

¹⁰ For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption.^(A)

¹¹ You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.^(B)

²⁸ All this was fulfilled and came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

²⁹ At the end of twelve months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon.

³⁰ The king said, Is not this the great Babylon that I have built as the royal residence and seat of government by the might of my power and for the honor and glory of my majesty?

³¹ While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you,

³² And you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling will be with the living creatures of the field. You will be made to eat grass like the oxen, and seven times [or years] shall pass over you until you have learned and know that the Most High [God] rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He will.

³³ That very hour the thing was [in process of] being fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and did eat grass like oxen [as Daniel had said he would], and his body was wet with the dew of the heavens until his hair grew like eagles’ [feathers] and his nails [were] like birds’ [claws].

³⁴ And at the end of the days [seven years], I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding and the right use of my mind returned to me; and I blessed the Most High [God] and I praised and honored and glorified Him Who lives forever, Whose dominion is an everlasting dominion; and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

³⁵ And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, What are You doing?

³⁶ Now at the same time my reason and understanding returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me, and my counselors and my lords sought me out; I was reestablished in my kingdom, and still more greatness [than before] was added to me.

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, Whose works are all faithful and right and Whose ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase and humble.

12 And [Jesus] started to speak to them in parables [with comparisons and illustrations]. A man planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and let it out [for rent] to vinedressers and went into another country.

² When the season came, he sent a bond servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

³ But they took him and beat him and sent him away without anything.

⁴ Again he sent to them another bond servant, and they stoned him and wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully [sending him away with insults].

⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; then many others—some they beat, and some they put to death.

⁶ He had still one left [to send], a beloved son; last of all he sent him to them, saying, They will respect my son.

⁷ But those tenants said to one another, Here is the heir; come on, let us put him to death, and [then] the inheritance will be ours.

⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw [his body] outside the vineyard.

⁹ Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others.

¹⁰ Have you not even read this [passage of] Scripture: The very Stone which [^[a]after putting It to the test] the builders rejected has become the Head of the corner [Cornerstone];

¹¹ This is from the Lord and is His doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?^(A)

¹² And they were trying to get hold of Him, but they were afraid of the people, for they knew that He spoke this parable with reference to and against them. So they left Him and departed.^(B)