Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 127

A Song of ^[a]Ascents. Of Solomon.

¹ Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.^(A)

² It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil—for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.

³ Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.^(B)

⁴ As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.

⁵ Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them! They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries [in gatherings] at the [city’s] gate.

2 I said in my mind, Come now, I will prove you with mirth and test you with pleasure; so have a good time [enjoy pleasure]. But this also was vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!^(A)

² I said of laughter, It is mad, and of pleasure, What does it accomplish?

³ I searched in my mind how to cheer my body with wine—yet at the same time having my mind hold its course and guide me with [human] wisdom—and how to lay hold of folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

⁴ I made great works; I built myself houses, I planted vineyards.

⁵ I made for myself gardens and orchards and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶ I made for myself pools of water from which to water the forest and make the trees bud.

⁷ I bought menservants and maidservants and had servants born in my house. Also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got for myself men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men—^[a]concubines very many.^(B)

⁹ So I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me and stood by me.

¹⁰ And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion and reward for all my toil.

¹¹ Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it, and there was no profit under the sun.^(C)

¹² So I turned to consider [human] wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the man do who succeeds the king? Nothing but what has been done already.

¹³ Then I saw that even [human] wisdom [that brings sorrow] is better than [the pleasures of] folly as far as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that [in the end] one event happens to them both.^(D)

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me. And of what use is it then for me to be more wise? Then I said in my heart, This also is vanity (emptiness, vainglory, and futility)!

¹⁶ For of the wise man, the same as of the fool, there is no permanent remembrance, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool!

¹⁷ So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it.

¹⁸ Wives, be subject to your husbands [subordinate and adapt yourselves to them], as is right and fitting and your proper duty in the Lord.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives [be affectionate and sympathetic with them] and do not be harsh or bitter or resentful toward them.

²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

²¹ Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated. [Do not break their spirit.]

²² Servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not only when their eyes are on you as pleasers of men, but in simplicity of purpose [with all your heart] because of your reverence for the Lord and as a sincere expression of your devotion to Him.

²³ Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men,

²⁴ Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The One Whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah).

²⁵ For he who deals wrongfully will [reap the fruit of his folly and] be punished for his wrongdoing. And [with God] there is no partiality [no matter what a person’s position may be, whether he is the slave or the master].

4 Masters, [on your part] deal with your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that also you have a Master in heaven.^(A)