Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

34 I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace.^{[a] 2} I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. ³ Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.

⁴ For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears. ⁵ Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! ⁶ This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. ⁷ For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.

⁸ Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him. ⁹ If you belong to the Lord, reverence him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. ¹⁰ Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those of us who reverence the Lord will never lack any good thing.

¹¹ Sons and daughters, come and listen and let me teach you the importance of trusting and fearing the Lord. ¹² Do you want a long, good life? ¹³ Then watch your tongue! Keep your lips from lying. ¹⁴ Turn from all known sin and spend your time in doing good. Try to live in peace with everyone; work hard at it.

¹⁵ For the eyes of the Lord are intently watching all who live good lives, and he gives attention when they cry to him. ¹⁶ But the Lord has made up his mind to wipe out even the memory of evil men from the earth. ¹⁷ Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to him for help and saves him out of all his troubles.

¹⁸ The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. ¹⁹ The good man does not escape all troubles—he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one. ²⁰ Not one of his bones is broken.

²¹ Calamity will surely overtake the wicked; heavy penalties are meted out to those who hate the good. ²² But as for those who serve the Lord, he will redeem them; everyone who takes refuge in him will be freely pardoned.

⁵ The Lord Almighty touches the land and it melts, and all its people mourn. It rises like the river Nile in Egypt and then sinks again. ⁶ The upper stories of his home are in the heavens, the first floor on the earth. He calls for the vapor to rise from the ocean and pours it down as rain upon the ground. Jehovah, the Lord, is his name.

⁷ “O people of Israel, are you any more to me than the Ethiopians are? Have not I, who brought you out of Egypt, done as much for other people too? I brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians out of Kir.

⁸ “The eyes of the Lord God are watching Israel, that sinful nation, and I will root her up and scatter her across the world. Yet I have promised that this rooting out will not be permanent. ⁹ For I have commanded that Israel be sifted by the other nations as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. ¹⁰ But all these sinners who say, ‘God will not touch us,’ will die by the sword.

¹¹ “Then, at that time I will rebuild the City of David, which is now lying in ruins, and return it to its former glory, ¹² and Israel will possess what is left of Edom and of all the nations that belong to me.” For so the Lord, who plans it all, has said.

¹³ “The time will come when there will be such abundance of crops that the harvesttime will scarcely end before the farmer starts again to sow another crop, and the terraces of grapes upon the hills of Israel will drip sweet wine! ¹⁴ I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again; they will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. ¹⁵ I will firmly plant them there upon the land that I have given them; they shall not be pulled up again,” says the Lord your God.

¹³ No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.

¹⁵ I hope all of you who are mature Christians will see eye-to-eye with me on these things, and if you disagree on some point, I believe that God will make it plain to you— ¹⁶ if you fully obey the truth you have.

¹⁷ Dear brothers, pattern your lives after mine, and notice who else lives up to my example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again now with tears in my eyes, there are many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their future is eternal loss, for their god is their appetite: they are proud of what they should be ashamed of; and all they think about is this life here on earth. ²⁰ But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is; and we are looking forward to his return from there. ²¹ When he comes back, he will take these dying bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer all else everywhere.

4 Dear brother Christians, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and my reward for my work. My beloved friends, stay true to the Lord.