Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 72^[a]

[A Psalm] for Solomon.

¹ Give the king [knowledge of] Your [way of] judging, O God, and [the spirit of] Your righteousness to the king’s son [to control all his actions].

² Let him judge and govern Your people with righteousness, and Your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice.

³ The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, through [the general establishment of] righteousness.

⁴ May he judge and defend the poor of the people, deliver the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor,

⁵ So that they may revere and fear You while the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

⁶ May he [Solomon as a type of King David’s greater Son] be like rain that comes down upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.

⁷ In ^[b]His [Christ’s] days shall the [uncompromisingly] righteous flourish and peace abound till there is a moon no longer.^(A)

⁸ He [Christ] shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.^(B)

⁹ Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him and His enemies shall lick the dust.

¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the coasts shall bring offerings; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹ Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him.^(C)

¹² For He delivers the needy when he calls out, the poor also and him who has no helper.

¹³ He will have pity on the poor and weak and needy and will save the lives of the needy.

¹⁴ He will redeem their lives from oppression and fraud and violence, and precious and costly shall their blood be in His sight.

¹⁵ And He shall live; and to Him shall be given gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for Him and through Him continually, and they shall bless and praise Him all the day long.

¹⁶ There shall be abundance of grain in the soil upon the top of the mountains [the least fruitful places in the land]; the fruit of it shall wave like [the forests of] Lebanon, and [the inhabitants of] the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

¹⁷ His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun [indeed, His name continues before the sun]. And men shall be blessed and bless themselves by Him; all nations shall call Him blessed!

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does wondrous things!

¹⁹ Blessed be His glorious name forever; let the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen and Amen!

²⁰ The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ minister,^(A)

² Moses My servant is dead. So now arise [take his place], go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, the Israelites.

³ Every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread, that have I given to you, as I promised Moses.

⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river Euphrates—all the land of the ^[a]Hittites [Canaan]—and to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea on the west shall be your territory.

⁵ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

⁶ Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

⁷ Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good ^[b]success.

⁹ Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

³² And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,^(A)

³³ Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,^(B)

³⁴ Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.^(C)

³⁵ [Some] women received again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured ^[a]to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life.^(D)

³⁶ Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment.

³⁷ They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated—

³⁸ [Men] of whom the world was not worthy—roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

³⁹ And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,

⁴⁰ Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them].

12 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,

² Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.^(E)