Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Director: By the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
Gratitude for Victory
18 He said:
“I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God,
my stronghold[a] in whom I take refuge, my shield, the glory[b]
of my salvation, and my high tower.”
3 I cried out to the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I was delivered from my enemies.
God’s Reward to the Righteous
20 The Lord will reward me because I am righteous;
because my hands are clean he will restore me;
21 because I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and I have not wickedly departed from my God;
22 because all his judgments were always before me,
and I did not cast off his statutes.
23 I was upright[a] before him,
and I kept myself from iniquity.
24 So the Lord restored me according to my righteousness,
because my hands were clean in his sight.
25 To the holy, you show your gracious love,
to the upright, you show yourself upright;
26 to the pure, you show yourself pure,
and to the morally corrupt, you appear to be perverse.
27 Indeed, you deliver the oppressed,[b]
but you bring down those who exalt themselves
in their own eyes.
28 For you, Lord, make my lamp shine;
my God enlightens my darkness.
29 With your help[c] I will run through an army,
with help from[d] my God I leap over walls.
30 As for God, his way is upright;[e]
the word of God is pure;
he is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
The Acts of God for the Righteous
31 For who is God but the Lord,
and who is a Rock other than our God?—
32 the God who clothes me with strength,
and who makes my way upright;[f]
God’s Precious Cornerstone
14 “Therefore hear[a] the message from the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people that are in Jerusalem.
15 Because you said:
‘We have entered into a covenant with death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol,[b]
so when the overwhelming scourge makes its choice,[c]
it cannot reach us,
since we have made lies our refuge
and have concealed ourselves inside falsehood,’
16 therefore this is what the Lord God[d] says:
“Look! I am laying[e] a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure[f] foundation:
Whoever believes firmly will not act hastily.
17 And I will make justice the measuring line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floods[g] will overflow your hiding place.
18 “Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol[h] will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
you will be trampled by it.
19 As often as it sweeps through,
it will carry you away,
for it will sweep by morning after morning in the day;
but understanding this message will bring sheer terror at night,[i]
20 because the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its blankets too narrow to wrap around oneself!
God is on Mount Perazim
21 For the Lord will stand upon[j] Mount Perazim,[k]
he will rouse himself in[l] the Valley of Gibeon;
to carry out his work—
his strange deed,
and to perform his task—
his alien task!
22 But as for you,[m] don’t start mocking,
or your chains will become tighter;
for I have heard from the Lord[n] of the Heavenly Armies about destruction,
and it is decreed against the whole land.
A Woman Anoints Jesus(A)
6 While Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on his head while he sat at the table. 8 But when the disciples saw this, they became irritated and said, “Why this waste? 9 Surely this perfume could’ve been sold for a high price and the money[a] given to the destitute.”
10 But knowing this,[b] Jesus asked them, “Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 11 You’ll always have the destitute with you, but you’ll not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she was preparing me for burial. 13 I tell all of you[c] with certainty, wherever this gospel is proclaimed throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
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