Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Futility of Life.
For the music director, for [a]Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39 I said, “I will (A)keep watch over my ways
So that I (B)do not sin with my tongue;
I will keep watch over (C)my mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was (D)mute [b]and silent,
I [c]refused to say even something good,
And my pain was stirred up.
3 My (E)heart was hot within me,
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, let me know (F)my end,
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how (G)transient I am.
5 Behold, You have made (H)my days like [d]hand widths,
And my (I)lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Certainly all mankind standing is [e]a mere (J)breath. Selah
6 Certainly every person (K)walks around as [f]a fleeting shadow;
They certainly make an (L)uproar for nothing;
He (M)amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My (N)hope is in You.
8 (O)Save me from all my wrongdoings;
Do not make me an object of (P)reproach for the foolish.
9 I have become (Q)mute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is (R)You who have done it.
10 (S)Remove Your plague from me;
Because of (T)the opposition of Your hand I am [g]perishing.
11 With (U)rebukes You punish a person for wrongdoing;
You (V)consume like a moth what is precious to him;
Certainly (W)all mankind is mere breath! Selah
Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine
17 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, ask a riddle and present a (A)parable to the house of Israel, 3 [a]saying, ‘This is what the Lord [b]God says: “A great [c](B)eagle with (C)great wings, long pinions, and a full plumage of many colors came to [d](D)Lebanon and took away the top of the [e]cedar. 4 He broke off the [f]topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a [g]city of traders. 5 He also took [h]from the seed of the land and planted [i]it in [j](E)fertile soil, a [k]meadow beside abundant waters; he set it like a (F)willow. 6 Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced shoots and sent out branches.
7 “But there was [l]another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine turned its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was (G)planted, so that he might water it. 8 It was planted in good [m]soil beside abundant waters, so that it would produce branches and bear fruit, and become a splendid vine.”’ 9 Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers—so that all its sprouting shoots wither? And neither by great [n]strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. 10 Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not (H)completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”’”
12 For all who have sinned [a](A)without the Law will also perish [b]without the Law, and all who have sinned [c]under the Law will be judged [d]by the Law; 13 for it is (B)not the hearers [e]of the Law who are [f]righteous before God, but the doers [g]of the Law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have [h]the Law [i](C)instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having [j]the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show (D)the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, (E)according to my gospel, (F)God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.
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