Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

121 Shall I look to the mountain gods for help? ² No! My help is from Jehovah who made the mountains! And the heavens too! ^3-4 He will never let me stumble, slip, or fall. For he is always watching, never sleeping.

⁵ Jehovah himself is caring for you! He is your defender.^{[a] 6} He protects you day and night. ⁷ He keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. ⁸ He keeps his eye upon you as you come and go and always guards you.

51 ^1-2 Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance, who seek the Lord! Consider the quarry from which you were mined, the rock from which you were cut! Yes, think about your ancestors Abraham and Sarah, from whom you came. You worry at being so small and few, but Abraham was only one when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation. ³ And the Lord will bless Israel again, and make her deserts blossom; her barren wilderness will become as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Joy and gladness will be found there, thanksgiving and lovely songs.

³ How I thank God for you, Timothy. I pray for you every day, and many times during the long nights I beg my God to bless you richly. He is my fathers’ God and mine, and my only purpose in life is to please him.

⁴ How I long to see you again. How happy I would be, for I remember your tears as we left each other.

⁵ I know how much you trust the Lord, just as your mother Eunice and your grandmother Lois do; and I feel sure you are still trusting him as much as ever.

⁶ This being so, I want to remind you to stir into flame the strength and boldness^[a] that is in you, that entered into you when I laid my hands upon your head and blessed you. ⁷ For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.