Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Justice of the Kingdom
Psalm 146
1 Halleluyah! Praise Adonai, O my soul!
2 I will praise Adonai all my life.
I will praise my God yet again.
3 Do not put your trust in princes—
in man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His breath departs,
he returns to his dust.
In that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in Adonai his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps truth forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives bread to the hungry.
Adonai sets the prisoners free.
8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind.[a]
Adonai raises up those who are bowed down.
Adonai loves the righteous.
9 Adonai protects outsiders,
upholds the fatherless and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 Adonai will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
Halleluyah!
2 Rich and poor have this in common—
Adonai is the Maker of them all.
3 A crafty person sees danger and hides,
but the naïve keep going and suffer for it.
4 The reward of humility and fear of Adonai
is riches, honor and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the path of the perverse,
but one who guards his soul stays far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
when he is old he will not turn from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor,
the borrower is a slave to the lender.
8 One who sows injustice will reap trouble,
and the rod of his fury will perish.
9 One with a bountiful eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
10 Throw out a scoffer and strife will go out,
quarreling and disgrace will cease.
11 One who loves purity of heart and whose speech is gracious,
will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of Adonai guard knowledge, but He undermines
the words of the faithless.
13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside!
I’ll be killed in the streets.”
14 The mouth of a seducing woman is a deep pit—
into it will fall one with whom Adonai is angry.
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,
but a rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
16 The one who oppresses the poor to increase his own gain,
and the one who gives to the rich—both end in poverty.
8 I am saying this not as a command, but I am trying to prove by the diligence of others the genuineness of your love as well. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah—that even though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich. 10 Now I give my opinion in this matter, that it is a credit to you that a year ago you were the first to start—not only to do but even to be willing. 11 But now finish doing it, so that just as there was eagerness to be willing, so also to finish it, out of what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is present, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he doesn’t have. 13 For it is not relief for others and hardship for you, but as a matter of equality. 14 Your abundance at this present time meets their need, so that their abundance may also meet your need—so that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.”[a]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.