Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 29[a]
The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World
1 A psalm of David.
I
Give to the Lord, you sons of God,[b]
give to the Lord glory and might;
2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bow down before the Lord’s holy splendor!(A)
II
3 The voice of the Lord[c] is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is power;
the voice of the Lord is splendor.(B)
5 The voice of the Lord cracks the cedars;
the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon,
6 Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
and Sirion[d] like a young bull.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes with fiery flame;
8 the voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
9 [e]The voice of the Lord makes the deer dance
and strips the forests bare.
All in his Temple say, “Glory!”
III
Chapter 1
1 The words of David’s son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem:[a](A)
Vanity of Human Toil
3 What profit have we from all the toil
which we toil at under the sun?[c](C)
4 One generation departs and another generation comes,
but the world forever stays.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
then it presses on to the place where it rises.
6 Shifting south, then north,
back and forth shifts the wind, constantly shifting its course.
7 All rivers flow to the sea,
yet never does the sea become full.
To the place where they flow,
the rivers continue to flow.
8 All things are wearisome,[d]
too wearisome for words.
The eye is not satisfied by seeing
nor has the ear enough of hearing.(D)
9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun!(E) 10 Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us.(F) 11 There is no remembrance of past generations;(G) nor will future generations be remembered by those who come after them.[e]
Paradox of the Cross. 18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.(A) 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the learning of the learned I will set aside.”(B)
20 Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?(C) 21 [a]For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,(D) 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,(E) 24 but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
The Corinthians and Paul.[b] 26 Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,(F) 28 and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, 29 so that no human being might boast[c] before God.(G) 30 It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,(H) 31 so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”(I)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.