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
17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into (A)the [a]Negev; then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19 And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are the people in open camps or in fortifications? 20 And (B)how is the land, is it [b]productive or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? And (C)show yourselves courageous and get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from (D)the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, [c](E)at Lebo-hamath. 22 When they had gone up into (F)the Negev, [d]they came to Hebron where (G)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the [e]descendants of (H)Anak were. (Hebron was built seven years before (I)Zoan in Egypt.)
23 Then they came to the [f]Valley of [g](J)Eshcol, and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of [h]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there.
The Spies’ Reports
25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, [i]in the wilderness of Paran at (K)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and (L)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and (M)this is its fruit.
Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven
18 So (A)He was saying, “(B)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and (C)the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”
20 And again He said, “(D)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 (E)It is like [a]leaven, which a woman took and hid in (F)three [b]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”
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