Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
24 How numerous are your works, Lord!
You have made them all wisely;
the earth is filled with your creations.[a]
25 There is the deep and wide sea,
teeming with numberless creatures,
living things small and great.
26 There, the ships pass through;
Leviathan, which you created, frolics in it.
27 All of them look to you
to provide them[b] their food at the proper time.
28 They receive what you give them;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you withdraw your favor,[c]
they are disappointed;
Take away their breath,
and[d] they die[e] and return to dust.
30 When you send your spirit,[f] they are[g] created,
and you replenish the surface of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works!
32 He looks at the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord with my whole being;[h]
I will sing to my God continually!
34 May my thoughts be pleasing to him;
indeed, I will rejoice in the Lord!
35 May sinners disappear from the land
and the wicked live no longer.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah!
11 So tremble, you ladies of leisure!
Shudder, you daughters who feel so complacent!
Strip down and make yourselves naked down to the waist![a]
Then wrap yourself in[b] sackcloth and beat your breasts.[c]
12 For people will be beating their breasts
in mourning[d] over the pleasant fields,
over the fruitful vines,
13 and over the land of my people
overgrown with thorns and[e] briers—
yes, over all the houses of merriment
and over this city of revelry.
14 “For the palace will be abandoned,
the noisy city deserted;
the citadel and watchtower
will become barren wastes forever,
the delight of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for[f] flocks,
15 until the Spirit from on high is poured upon us,
and the desert becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.”
Restoration of God’s Reign
16 “Then justice will live in the wilderness,
and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never fulfill the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh wants is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, and so you do not do what you want to do. 18 But if you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
19 Now the actions of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, witchcraft,[a] hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, 21 envy, murder,[b] drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,[c] 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 Now those who belong to the Messiah[d] Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also be guided.
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