Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 72
Of Solomon.
72 God, give your judgments to the king.
Give your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 Let him judge your people with righteousness
and your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people;
let the hills bring righteousness.
4 Let the king bring justice to people who are poor;
let him save the children of those who are needy,
but let him crush oppressors!
5 Let the king live[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon,
generation to generation.
6 Let him fall like rain upon fresh-cut grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Let the righteous flourish throughout their lives,
and let peace prosper until the moon is no more.
18 Bless the Lord God, the God of Israel—
the only one who does wondrous things!
19 Bless God’s glorious name forever;
let his glory fill all the earth!
Amen and Amen!
This is the way
19 People in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. God will certainly be merciful to you. Hearing the sound of your outcry, God will answer you. 20 Though the Lord gives you the bread of distress and the water of oppression, your teacher will no longer hide, but you will see your teacher. 21 If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 You will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-covered priestly vest,[a] and you will scatter them like menstrual rags. “Get out,” you will say to them.
23 God will provide rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food the ground produces will be rich and abundant. On that day, your cattle will graze in large pastures. 24 The oxen and donkeys that are working the ground will eat tasty feed spread for them with shovel and fork.
25 On every lofty mountain, and on every high hill, streams will run with water on the day of the great massacre, when the towers fall. 26 The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the Lord bandages the people’s brokenness and heals the wounds inflicted by his blows.
16 Standing up, Paul gestured with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites and Gentile God-worshippers, please listen to me. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors. God made them a great people while they lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. With his great power, he led them out of that country. 18 For about forty years, God put up with them in the wilderness. 19 God conquered seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the Israelites their land as an inheritance. 20 This happened over a period of about four hundred fifty years.
“After this, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21 The Israelites requested a king, so God gave them Saul, Kish’s son, from the tribe of Benjamin, and he served as their king for forty years. 22 After God removed him, he raised up David to be their king. God testified concerning him, ‘I have found David, Jesse’s son, a man who shares my desires.[a] Whatever my will is, he will do.’ 23 From this man’s descendants, God brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, just as he promised. 24 Before Jesus’ appearance, John proclaimed to all the Israelites a baptism to show they were changing their hearts and lives. 25 As John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I’m not the one you think I am, but he is coming after me. I’m not worthy to loosen his sandals.’
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible