Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 29^[a]

A Psalm of David.

¹ Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

² Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness or in holy array.

³ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon many (great) waters.

⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶ He makes them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion (Mount Hermon) like a young, wild ox.

⁷ The voice of the Lord splits and flashes forth forked lightning.

⁸ The voice of the Lord makes the wilderness tremble; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹ The voice of the Lord makes the hinds bring forth their young, and His voice strips bare the forests, while in His temple everyone is saying, Glory!

¹⁰ The Lord sat as King over the deluge; the Lord [still] sits as King [and] forever!

¹¹ The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

3 To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,^(A)

³ A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,

⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

⁶ A time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,

⁷ A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,^(B)

⁸ A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.^(C)

⁹ What profit remains for the worker from his toil?

¹⁰ I have seen the painful labor and exertion and miserable business which God has given to the sons of men with which to exercise and busy themselves.

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to get and do good as long as they live;

¹³ And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. And God does it so that men will [reverently] fear Him [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is].^(D)

¹⁵ That which is now already has been, and that which is to be already has been; and God seeks that which has passed by [so that history repeats itself].

¹¹ For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man’s thoughts except the man’s own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

¹² Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.

¹³ And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].

¹⁴ But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

¹⁵ But the spiritual man tries all things [he ^[a]examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].

¹⁶ For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.^(A)