Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights!

² Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His hosts!

³ Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you stars of light!

⁴ Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created.

⁶ He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away [He fixed their bounds which cannot be passed over].

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps!

⁸ You lightning, hail, fog, and frost, you stormy wind fulfilling His orders!

⁹ Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars!

¹⁰ Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers and judges of the earth!

¹² Both young men and maidens, old men and children!

¹³ Let them praise and exalt the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted and supreme! His glory and majesty are above earth and heaven!

¹⁴ He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them power, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence], a song of praise for all His godly ones, for the people of Israel, who are near to Him. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)^(A)

¹⁸ And Moses said, I beseech You, show me Your glory.

¹⁹ And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, The Lord, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.^(A)

²⁰ But, He said, You can not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live.

²¹ And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand upon the rock,

²² And while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

²³ Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.

1 [We are writing] about the Word of Life [^[a]in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands.

² And the Life [^[b]an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [^[c]in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers].

³ What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may ^[d]realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a ^[e]distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

⁴ And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and ^[f]your joy may be complete].

⁵ And this is the message [the message of ^[g]promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [^[h]no, not in any way].

⁶ [So] if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are [both] speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth [which the Gospel presents].

⁷ But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].

⁸ If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts].

⁹ If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].