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)
9 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out and set up her seven [perfect number of] pillars.
2 She has killed her beasts, she has mixed her [spiritual] wine; she has also set her table.(A)
3 She has sent out her maids to cry from the highest places of the town:
4 Whoever is simple (easily led astray and wavering), let him turn in here! As for him who lacks understanding, [God’s] Wisdom says to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread and drink of the [spiritual] wine which I have mixed.(B)
6 Leave off, simple ones [forsake the foolish and simpleminded] and live! And walk in the way of insight and understanding.
7 He who rebukes a scorner heaps upon himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man gets for himself bruises.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.(C)
9 Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning.
10 The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.
11 For by me [Wisdom from God] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scorn, you alone will bear it and pay the penalty.
8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.(A)
9 The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish (pass away) with a thunderous crash, and the [[a]material] elements [of the universe] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are thus [b]in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities,
12 While you wait and earnestly long for (expect and hasten) the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved, and the [[c]material] elements [of the universe] will flare and melt with fire?(B)
13 But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise, in which righteousness (uprightness, freedom from sin, and right standing with God) is to abide.(C)
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