Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150[a]
Psalm 146[b]
Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer
1 [c]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.[d]
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God throughout my life.[e]
3 Do not place your trust in princes,
in mortal men who have no power to save.
4 When the spirit departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day all their plans come to naught.[f]
5 [g]Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,[h]
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,[i]
the sea, and everything in them—
the one who keeps faith forever.
7 He grants justice to the oppressed[j]
and gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners
8 and opens the eyes of those who cannot see.[k]
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the stranger
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,[l]
but he blocks the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever,[m]
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Alleluia.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common:
all of them were made by the Lord.[a]
3 A prudent man perceives danger and seeks shelter,
while the simple[b] continue forward and pay for it.
4 The reward of humility and fear of the Lord[c]
is wealth, honor, and life.
5 Thorns and snares cover the path of the perverse;
whoever values his life will steer clear of them.
6 Train a child in the way he should go,
and he will not deviate from it, even in old age.
7 The wealthy man lords it over the poor,[d]
and the borrower becomes the slave of the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his wrath will disappear.
9 One who is kindly will be blessed,[e]
for he shares his food with the poor.
10 Banish the scoffer[f] and strife will cease;
discord and abuse will come to an end.
11 The Lord loves the pure of heart;
the man of gracious speech will have the king as a friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord[g] preserve knowledge,
but he ruins the plans of the unfaithful.
13 The idler cries out, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed if I go out on the street.”[h]
14 The mouth of an adulteress[i] is a deep pit;
the man with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is rooted deep in the heart of a child,
but the rod of correction[j] will remove it far from him.
16 A man becomes rich by crushing the poor,
but presents to the rich will only impoverish him.[k]
8 I am not saying this to you as a command, but rather I am testing the genuine character of your love by the concern you show for others. 9 For you are well aware of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although he was rich, he became poor for your sake so that by his poverty you might become rich.[a]
10 I will now give you my advice about what I believe is appropriate in this matter. Last year, you were the first not only to engage in this good work but also to do so willingly. 11 Now finish it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12 As long as the goodwill is present, the gift will be acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 I am not suggesting that others should have relief while you are reduced to difficult straits. Rather, there should be an equitable balance. 14 Your surplus at the present time should relieve the needs of others, so that at another time their surplus may relieve your needs, and in this way there will be equality. 15 As it is written,
“The one who gathered much did not have too much,
and the one who gathered less did not have too little.”
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