Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Song of Ascents
God is for Us
124 If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel now say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men came against us,
3 then they would have devoured us alive,
when their anger burned against us.
4 Then the flood waters would have overwhelmed us,
the torrent would have flooded over us;
5 the swollen waters would have swept us away.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from the hunter’s trap.
The trap has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
On Avoiding the Immoral Woman
7 My son, guard what I say
and treasure my commands.
2 Keep my commands and you’ll live.
Guard[a] my teaching as you do your eyesight.
3 Strap them to your fingers
and engrave them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You’re my sister!”
and call understanding your close relative,
7 Now to each one of us grace has been given proportionate to the measure of the Messiah’s[a] gift. 8 That is why God[b] says,
“When he went up to the highest place,
he led captives into captivity
and gave gifts to people.”[c]
9 Now what does this “he went up” mean except that he also had gone[d] down into the lower parts of the earth?[e] 10 The one who went down is the same one who went up above all the heavens so that all things would be fulfilled. 11 And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers, 12 to equip[f] the saints, to do the work of ministry, and to build up the body of the Messiah[g] 13 until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God’s Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.[h] 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed like waves and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, or by clever strategies that would lead us astray. 15 Instead, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely and become one with the head, that is, one with the Messiah,[i] 16 in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love.
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