Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 49[a]
Deceptive Riches
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 [c]Hear this, all you peoples;
listen carefully, all you inhabitants of the world,
3 whether lowborn or highborn,
rich and poor alike.
4 My mouth will speak words of wisdom,
and the utterance of my heart[d] will give understanding.
5 I will listen carefully to a proverb,
and with the harp[e] I will interpret my riddle.
6 Why should I be afraid in evil times
when I am beset by the wickedness of my foes,[f]
7 those who place their trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
8 [g]For no one can ever redeem himself
or pay a ransom to God for his release.
9 The price to ransom a life would be too costly;
no one would ever have enough
10 to enable him to live on forever
and avoid being consigned to the pit.
11 [h]For all can see that the wise die,
just as the foolish and the stupid also pass away,
and all leave their wealth to others.[i]
12 Their graves are their eternal homes,
their dwelling places for all generations,
even though they had named lands after themselves.
Editor’s Note[a]
Chapter 1
1 The words of Qoheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity[b] of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! Everything is vanity.
3 What profit does anyone gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?[c]
Introductory Poem[d]
There Is Nothing New under the Sun
4 One generation passes away and another generation succeeds it,
but the earth stands firm forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets;
then it returns to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows southward and then veers to the north,
constantly turning as it repeats its course.
7 All the rivers go to the sea,
and yet the sea never overflows,
for the rivers continue to return
to their place of origin.
8 All things[e] are wearisome
and very difficult to express.
The eyes are not satisfied with seeing
and the ears do not have their fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be so again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Whatever is perceived to be new
has already existed in the ages before us.
11 Those people who died in ages past
are no longer remembered,
and the people yet to be born
will not be remembered by those who come after them.
17 The Rich Young Man.[a] As Jesus was starting out on a journey, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
20 The man said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these since I was a child.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus was moved with love and said, “You need to do one further thing. Go and sell what you own, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard these words, the man’s face fell and he went away grieving, for he possessed great wealth.
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