Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for rescue. A happy people described.
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be Jehovah my rock,
Who teacheth my hands to war,
And my fingers to fight:
2 My lovingkindness, and my fortress,
My high tower, and my deliverer;
My shield, and he in whom I take refuge;
Who subdueth my people under me.
3 Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
4 Man is like to [a]vanity:
His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
5 Bow thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down:
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them;
Send out thine arrows, and discomfit them.
7 Stretch forth thy hand from above;
Rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters,
Out of the hand of aliens;
8 Whose mouth speaketh deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God:
Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
10 Thou art he that giveth salvation unto kings;
Who rescueth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11 Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of aliens,
Whose mouth speaketh deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 When our sons shall be as plants grown up in their youth,
And our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace;
13 When our garners are full, affording all manner of store,
And our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
14 When our oxen are well laden;
When there is no breaking in, and no [b]going forth,
And no outcry in our streets:
15 Happy is the people that is in such a case;
Yea, happy is the people whose God is Jehovah.
10 Thy mother was like a vine, [a]in thy blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. 11 And it had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and [b]their stature was exalted among the [c]thick boughs, and [d]they were seen in [e]their height with the multitude of [f]their branches. 12 But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them. 13 And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. 14 And fire is gone out of [g]the rods of its branches, it hath devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
4 unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, [a]precious, 5 ye also, as living stones, are built up [b]a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Because it is contained in [c]scripture,
[d]Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, [e]precious:
And he that believeth on [f]him shall not be put to shame.
7 [g]For you therefore that believe is the [h]preciousness: but for such as disbelieve,
[i]The stone which the builders rejected,
The same was made the head of the corner;
8 and,
[j]A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence;
[k]for they [l]stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 9 But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
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