Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God
A Psalm of David (A)when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
34 I will (B)bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
4 I (C)sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 (D)The [a]angel of the Lord (E)encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, (F)taste and see that the Lord is good;
(G)Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no [b]want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
(H)But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
(I)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 (J)Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking (K)deceit.
14 (L)Depart from evil and do good;
(M)Seek peace and pursue it.
15 (N)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 (O)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
(P)To [c]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and (Q)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 (R)The Lord is near (S)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [d]have a contrite spirit.
19 (T)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(U)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
(V)Not one of them is broken.
21 (W)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (X)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
5 The Lord God of hosts,
He who touches the earth and it (A)melts,
(B)And all who dwell there mourn;
All of it shall swell like [a]the River,
And subside like the River of Egypt.
6 He who builds His (C)layers[b] in the sky,
And has founded His strata in the earth;
Who (D)calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
(E)The Lord is His name.
7 “Are you not like the [c]people of Ethiopia to Me,
O children of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
The (F)Philistines from (G)Caphtor,[d]
And the Syrians from (H)Kir?
8 “Behold, (I)the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I (J)will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
9 “For surely I will command,
And will [e]sift the house of Israel among all nations,
As grain is sifted in a sieve;
(K)Yet not the smallest [f]grain shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
(L)Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
Israel Will Be Restored
11 “On(M) that day I will raise up
The [g]tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And [h]repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 (N)That they may possess the remnant of (O)Edom,[i]
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.
13 “Behold, (P)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
(Q)The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
14 (R)I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
(S)They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land,
(T)And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [a]apprehended; but one thing I do, (A)forgetting those things which are behind and (B)reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 (C)I press toward the goal for the prize of (D)the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are (E)mature, (F)have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, (G)God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already [b]attained, (H)let us walk (I)by the same [c]rule, let us be of the same mind.
Our Citizenship in Heaven
17 Brethren, (J)join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as (K)you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are (L)the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 (M)whose end is destruction, (N)whose god is their belly, and (O)whose glory is in their shame—(P)who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For (Q)our citizenship is in heaven, (R)from which we also (S)eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 (T)who will transform our lowly body that it may be (U)conformed to His glorious body, (V)according to the working by which He is able even to (W)subdue all things to Himself.
Be Anxious for Nothing; Think These Thoughts
4 Therefore, my beloved and (X)longed-for brethren, (Y)my joy and crown, so (Z)stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.