Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This psalm is a song to sing on Sabbath days.
A song to praise God
92 It is good to thank the Lord!
We sing to praise your name, Most High God.
2 We sing in the morning
to thank you for your faithful love.
We sing at night
to say that you are always faithful.
3 We make beautiful music
with lutes, harps and lyres.[a]
4 The things that you do, Lord,
make me very happy.
I sing with joy
because of the things that your hands have made!
5 Yes, Lord, you have done great things!
Your thoughts are more than we can understand!
6 Here is something that stupid people do not know.
Fools do not understand it.
7 Wicked people may continue to grow,
like green grass.
Evil people may grow like weeds.
But in the end you will destroy them
and they will never grow again.[b]
8 You, Lord, will rule as King for ever!
9 Yes, Lord, look at your enemies!
Your enemies will all die!
Those people who do evil things will all disappear!
10 You have made me as strong as a wild bull.
You have poured pure olive oil on me.[c]
11 With my own eyes,
I have seen my enemies fall.
With my own ears,
I have heard them cry out in pain.
12 Righteous people will do well,
like a palm tree that makes new leaves.
They will become strong,
like a tall cedar tree in Lebanon.
13 They are like trees that someone has planted in the Lord's house.
They grow well in the yard of our God's temple.
14 When they are old,
they will still give fruit!
They will always be strong,
with fresh, green leaves.
15 They will tell everyone,
‘The Lord always does what is right.
He is my strong, safe rock.
There is nothing bad in him.’
3 The people must carefully obey the rules. 4 If they do, I will send rain at the proper time. Plants for food will grow in the ground. Fruit will grow on your trees. 5 The people will harvest grain until the grapes are ready to eat. They will harvest the grapes until it is the time to plant seeds. They will have all the food to eat that they need. I will keep them safe in their land.
6 I will stop war in Israel. When the people sleep, they will not be afraid. I will take the wild animals away. Other people will not hurt my people. 7 Israel's enemies will run away from them. They will kill their enemies. 8 Five of you will run after 100 of them. And 100 of you will run after 1,000 enemies. You will kill all your enemies.
9 I will do good things for your people and I will give many children to them. Their number will grow. I will do everything that I have promised to do for them. 10 They will have so much food that some will remain after the next harvest. 11 I will have my home among you, my people. I will never turn away from them. 12 I will walk among the people. They will belong to me. 13 I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. You will not be the slaves of people in Egypt. I saved you so that you need not be ashamed.
People who do not obey the rules will not give any pleasure to the Lord
14 God will be angry if the people do not listen to him. He will be angry if they do not obey his rules. 15 The people may not respect or obey God's rules. So they will not be doing what they promised to him. 16 So God will send diseases to the people. They will be afraid. The people will have diseases in their eyes. They will get thin and they will die. They will plant their seed and their enemies will eat the fruit. 17 God will fight against you. Your enemies will win the war. They will become your rulers. Your soldiers will run away even when nobody is running after them.
18 The people may not obey God even after this. If they do not, God will punish them seven times more strongly. 19 He will make them ashamed. He will not send any rain and the land will be hard and dry. 20 Even if they do a lot of work, no grain will grow. No fruit will grow on the trees.
A life that makes God happy
4 Christian friends, there are a few more things that we need to say. We have already taught you how to live in a way that pleases God. And we know that you are living in that way. Now we ask you to continue to live like that even more. On behalf of the Lord Jesus, we seriously ask you to do this. 2 You surely remember what we taught you with the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 This is how God wants you to live: As his own people, he wants you to be completely good. So you must not have sex in a way that is wrong. 4 Each of you men must learn to rule his own body properly. Then you will do only what is pure and right. 5 People who do not know God strongly want to have sex in a wrong way. They cannot control themselves. You must not be like those people. 6 No man among you should ever have sex with the wife of a Christian friend. That would be the same as if you robbed him. It would be a bad thing to do against him. Remember that the Lord will punish everyone who does things like that. We have already told you that. We warned you very seriously about it.
7 God has chosen us to belong to him. He does not want us to do disgusting things. As his people, he wants us to be holy. 8 So do not refuse to accept what I am saying. If you do, it is not just a person that you refuse to obey. You are refusing to obey God. And God is the one who has given his Holy Spirit to you.
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