Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 96
Praise to God Who Comes in Judgment
1 O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.(A)
2 Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.(B)
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.(C)
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.(D)
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.(E)
6 Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.(F)
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.”(A)
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar and all that fills it;(B)
12 let the field exult and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with his truth.(C)
Limitations of Royal Authority
14 “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’(A) 15 you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community.(B) 16 Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again.’(C) 17 And he must not acquire many wives for himself or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself.(D) 18 When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.(E) 19 It shall remain with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes,(F) 20 neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.(G)
Tending the Flock of God
5 Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you(A) 2 to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight,[a] not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it,[b] not for sordid gain but eagerly.(B) 3 Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.(C) 4 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.(D) 5 In the same way, you who are younger must be subject to the elders.[c] And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”(E)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.