Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 18
Praise for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.(A) He said:
20 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;(A)
He repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.(B)
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.(C)
22 Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind[a]
and have not disregarded His statutes.(D)
23 I was blameless toward Him(E)
and kept myself from sinning.
24 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,(F)
according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.(G)
25 With the faithful
You prove Yourself faithful;
with the blameless man
You prove Yourself blameless;
26 with the pure
You prove Yourself pure,
but with the crooked
You prove Yourself shrewd.(H)
27 For You rescue an afflicted people,(I)
but You humble those with haughty eyes.(J)
28 Lord, You light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.(K)
29 With You I can attack a barrier,[b]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.(L)
A Deal with Death
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(A) you mockers(B)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you said, “We have cut a deal with Death,
and we have made an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,(C)
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone(D) in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;(E)
the one who believes will be unshakable.[a](F)
17 And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”(G)
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18 Your deal with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be trampled.
19 Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning—
every day and every night.
Only terror(H) will cause you
to understand the message.[b]
20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim.(I)
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,(J)
to do His work, His strange work,
and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
22 So now, do not mock,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts
a decree of destruction for the whole land.(K)
The Anointing at Bethany
6 While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon,(A) a man who had a serious skin disease, 7 a woman approached Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive fragrant oil. She poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples(B) saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”
10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me. 11 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.(C) 12 By pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she has prepared Me for burial. 13 I assure you: Wherever this gospel(D) is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”
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