Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 145[a]
Praise. Of David.
145 I will lift you up high, my God, the true king.
I will bless your name forever and always.
2 I will bless you every day.
I will praise your name forever and always.
3 The Lord is great and so worthy of praise!
God’s greatness can’t be grasped.
4 One generation will praise your works to the next one,
proclaiming your mighty acts.
5 They will talk all about[b] the glorious splendor of your majesty;
I will contemplate your wondrous works.
6 They will speak of the power of your awesome deeds;
I will declare your great accomplishments.
7 They will rave in celebration of your abundant goodness;
they will shout joyfully about your righteousness:
8 “The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
3 The shields of his warriors are red;
his soldiers are dressed in crimson.
The ironwork of the chariots flashes like fire
on the day he has prepared;
the horses quiver.
4 The chariots race wildly through the streets;
they rush back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart like bolts of lightning.
5 He musters his officers;
they stumble as they press forward.
They hurry to the city wall,
and the portable shield is set up.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened;
the palace melts.
7 It is decreed:[a] She is sent into exile, carried away,
while her female servants moan like doves, beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water.
Such are its waters,[b] and others are fleeing.
“Stop, stop!”—but no one can turn them back.
9 Plunder silver! Plunder gold!
There is no end to the supplies,
an abundance of precious objects!
10 Destruction and devastation;
the city is laid waste!
The heart grows faint and knees buckle;
there is anguish in every groin;
all the faces grow pale.
Cruel Nineveh will be destroyed
11 Where is the lions’ den, the meadow of the young lions,
where lion, lioness, even lion cub go about with no one to terrify them?
12 The lion has torn enough prey
for his cubs and strangled enough for his lionesses;
he has filled his lairs with prey,
his dens with torn flesh.
13 Look! I am against you, proclaims the Lord of heavenly forces.
I will burn your[c] chariots in smoke;
the sword will devour your young lions;
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
the voice of your messengers will never again be heard!
5 Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Don’t you understand that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, of course, you fail the test. 6 But I hope that you will realize that we don’t fail the test. 7 We pray to God that you don’t do anything wrong, not because we want to appear to pass the test but so that you might do the right thing, even if we appear to fail.
8 We can’t do anything against the truth but only to help the truth. 9 We are happy when we are weak but you are strong. We pray for this: that you will be made complete. 10 This is why I’m writing these things while I’m away. I’m writing so that I won’t need to act harshly when I’m with you by using the authority that the Lord gave me. He gave it to me so that I could build you up, not tear you down.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible