Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 46
For the music leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth.[a] A song.
46 God is our refuge and strength,
a help always near in times of great trouble.
2 That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart,
when the mountains crumble into the center of the sea,
3 when its waters roar and rage,
when the mountains shake because of its surging waves. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams gladden God’s city,
the holiest dwelling of the Most High.
5 God is in that city. It will never crumble.
God will help it when morning dawns.
6 Nations roar; kingdoms crumble.
God utters his voice; the earth melts.
7 The Lord of heavenly forces is with us!
The God of Jacob is our place of safety. Selah
8 Come, see the Lord’s deeds,
what devastation he has imposed on the earth—
9 bringing wars to an end in every corner of the world,
breaking the bow and shattering the spear,
burning chariots with fire.
10 “That’s enough! Now know that I am God!
I am exalted among all nations; I am exalted throughout the world!”
11 The Lord of heavenly forces is with us!
The God of Jacob is our place of safety. Selah
11 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire will devour your cedars.
2 Scream, cypress, for the cedar has fallen;
those majestic ones have been devastated.
Scream, oaks of Bashan, for the deep forest has fallen.
3 The sound of screaming appears among the shepherds
because their majesty has been devastated.
The sound of roaring can be heard among the young lions
because the pride of the Jordan has been devastated.
The shepherd’s two staffs
4 This is what the Lord my God says:
Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter.
5 Those who buy them will kill them,
but they will go unpunished.
Those who sell them will say,
“Blessed is the Lord, for I have become rich.”
And their own shepherds won’t spare them.
6 In fact, I will no longer spare the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
But look what I am about to bring upon humanity,
upon each of them by their neighbor’s hand and by the hand of their king:
They will beat the land to pieces,
but I won’t rescue anyone from their hand.
7 So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter,
the afflicted of the flock.[a]
I took two staffs for myself.
I named one Delight;
the other I named Harmony.
I shepherded the flock.
8 I removed three shepherds in one month
when I grew impatient with them.
Moreover, they detested me.
9 Then I said, “I won’t shepherd you.
Let the dying die,
and let what is to be removed be removed.
Let those who are left devour the flesh of their neighbor.”
10 Then I took the staff Delight,
and I chopped it up in order to break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
11 It was broken on that day.
As a result, the afflicted[b] of the flock knew that it was the Lord’s word.
12 And I said to them,
“If it appears good to you, give me my wages;
but if not, then stop.”
So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver.
13 The Lord said to me,
“Put it in the treasury.[c]
They value me at too magnificent a price.”
So I took the thirty shekels[d] of silver
and put them in the treasury of the Lord’s house.
14 Then I chopped up my second staff Harmony,
to break the alliance between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me,
“Take for yourself again the equipment of a foolish shepherd,
16 because I am about to appoint a shepherd in the land.
He won’t tend to those who have been removed.
He won’t seek the young or heal the broken.
He won’t sustain the one standing.
Instead, he will devour the flesh of the fat ones, even tearing off their hooves.
17 Doom, foolish shepherd who forsakes the flock.
A sword will strike[e] his arm and his right eye.
His arm will wither completely;
his right eye will become blind.”
Thanksgiving
3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 4 You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish—an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you. 5 Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in the last time.
6 You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. 7 This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is too much for words. 9 You are receiving the goal of your faith: your salvation.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible