Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song of David.
144 Praise the Lord!
He is my Rock.
He prepares me for war.
He trains me for battle.
2 He loves me and protects me.
He is my safe place high on the mountain.
He rescues me.
He is my shield.
I trust in him.
He helps me rule my people.
3 Lord, why are people important to you?
Why do you even notice us?
4 Our life is like a puff of air.
It is like a passing shadow.
5 Lord, tear open the skies and come down.
Touch the mountains, and smoke will rise from them.
6 Send the lightning and make my enemies run away.
Shoot your “arrows” and make them run away.
7 Reach down from heaven and save me!
Don’t let me drown in this sea of enemies.
Save me from these foreigners.
8 They are all liars,
even when they swear to tell the truth.
9 God, I will sing a new song[a] for you.
I will play a ten-stringed harp and sing praise to you.
10 You are the one who gives victory to kings.
You saved your servant David from the sword of his enemy.
11 Save me from these foreigners.
They are all liars,
even when they swear to tell the truth.
12 May our sons be as strong as trees
and our daughters as beautiful as the carved columns of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
May our sheep produce so many lambs,
that thousands of sheep will fill our fields.
14 And may our cows be heavy with calves.
May no enemy break through our walls
or carry away any of our people.
May there be no cries of pain in our streets.
15 How wonderful to have such blessings!
Yes, great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God.
10 “‘Your mother is like a grapevine
planted near the water.
She had plenty of water,
so she grew many strong vines.
11 Then she grew large branches.
They were like a strong walking stick.
They were like a king’s scepter.
The vine grew taller and taller.
It had many branches and reached to the clouds.
12 But the vine was pulled up by the roots,
and thrown down to the ground.
The hot east wind blew and dried its fruit.
The strong branches broke, and they were thrown into the fire.
13 “‘Now that grapevine is planted in the desert.
It is a very dry and thirsty land.
14 A fire started in the large branch
and spread to destroy all of its vines and fruit.
So there was no strong walking stick.
There was no king’s scepter.’
This was a sad song about death, and it was sung as a sad song about death.”
4 The Lord Jesus is the living stone.[a] The people of the world decided that they did not want this stone. But he is the one God chose as one of great value. So come to him. 5 You also are like living stones, and God is using you to build a spiritual house.[b] You are to serve God in this house as holy priests, offering him spiritual sacrifices that he will accept because of Jesus Christ. 6 The Scriptures say,
“Look, I have chosen a cornerstone of great value,
and I put that stone in Zion.
Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” (A)
7 So, that stone brings honor for you who believe. But for those who don’t believe he is
“the stone that the builders refused to accept,
which became the most important stone.” (B)
8 For them he is also
“a stone that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes people fall.” (C)
People stumble because they don’t obey what God says. This is what God planned to happen to those people.
9 But you are his chosen people, the King’s priests. You are a holy nation, people who belong to God. He chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He brought you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light.
10 In the past you were not a special people,
but now you are God’s people.
Once you had not received mercy,
but now God has given you his mercy.[c]
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International