Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

127 Unless the Lord builds a house, the builders’ work is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, sentries do no good. ² It is senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing you will starve to death; for God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest.

³ Children are a gift from God; they are his reward. ⁴ Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows to defend him.

⁵ Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. That man shall have the help he needs when arguing with his enemies.^[a]

12 Don’t let the excitement of being young cause you to forget about your Creator. Honor him in your youth before the evil years come—when you’ll no longer enjoy living. ² It will be too late then to try to remember him when the sun and light and moon and stars are dim to your old eyes, and there is no silver lining left among your clouds. ³ For there will come a time when your limbs will tremble with age, your strong legs will become weak, and your teeth will be too few to do their work, and there will be blindness too. ⁴ Then let your lips be tightly closed while eating when your teeth are gone! And you will waken at dawn with the first note of the birds; but you yourself will be deaf and tuneless, with quavering voice. ⁵ You will be afraid of heights and of falling—a white-haired, withered old man, dragging himself along: without sexual desire, standing at death’s door, and nearing his everlasting home as the mourners go along the streets.

⁶ Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young—before the silver cord of life snaps and the gold bowl is broken; before the pitcher is broken at the fountain and the wheel is broken at the cistern; ⁷ then the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. ⁸ All is futile, says the Preacher; utterly futile.

¹³ Here is my final conclusion: fear God and obey his commandments, for this is the entire duty of man. ¹⁴ For God will judge us for everything we do, including every hidden thing, good or bad.

²² Then turning to his disciples he said, “Don’t worry about whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. ²³ For life consists of far more than food and clothes. ²⁴ Look at the ravens—they don’t plant or harvest or have barns to store away their food, and yet they get along all right—for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!

²⁵ “And besides, what’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not! ²⁶ And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?

²⁷ “Look at the lilies! They don’t toil and spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are. ²⁸ And if God provides clothing for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, don’t you suppose that he will provide clothing for you, you doubters? ²⁹ And don’t worry about food—what to eat and drink; don’t worry at all that God will provide it for you. ³⁰ All mankind scratches for its daily bread, but your heavenly Father knows your needs. ³¹ He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.