Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity.
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be the Lord, (A)my rock,
Who (B)trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle;
2 My faithfulness and (C)my fortress,
My (D)stronghold and my savior,
My (E)shield and He in whom I take refuge,
Who (F)subdues [a]my people under me.
3 Lord, (G)what is man, that You look after him?
Or a son of man, that You think of him?
4 (H)Man is like the breath;
His (I)days are like a passing shadow.
5 (J)Bend down Your heavens, Lord, and (K)come down;
(L)Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
6 Flash forth (M)lightning and scatter them;
Send out Your (N)arrows and confuse them.
7 Reach out with Your hand (O)from on high;
Rescue me and (P)save me from great waters,
From the hand of (Q)foreigners
8 Whose mouths (R)speak deceit,
And whose (S)right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 God, I will sing a (T)new song to You;
On a (U)harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10 Who (V)gives salvation to kings,
Who (W)rescues His servant David from the evil sword.
11 Rescue me and save me from the hand of (X)foreigners,
Whose mouth (Y)speaks deceit
And whose (Z)right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 When our sons in their youth are like (AA)growing plants,
And our daughters like (AB)corner pillars [b]fashioned for a palace,
13 Our (AC)granaries are full, providing every kind of produce,
And our flocks deliver thousands and ten thousands in our [c]fields;
14 May our (AD)cattle [d]be bred
Without [e](AE)mishap and without [f](AF)loss,
May there be no (AG)outcry in our streets!
15 Blessed are the people who are so situated;
(AH)Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
The Chorus
5 “(A)Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning on her beloved?”
The Bride
“Beneath the (B)apple tree I awakened you;
There your mother went into labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave birth to you.
6 Put me like a seal over your heart,
Like a (C)seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
[a](D)Jealousy is as severe as Sheol;
Its flames are flames of fire,
[b]The flame of the Lord.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers flood over it;
(E)If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.”
The Chorus
8 “We have a little sister,
And she (F)has no breasts;
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
We will build on her a battlement of silver;
But if she is a door,
We will barricade her with (G)planks of cedar.”
The Bride
10 “I was a wall, and (H)my breasts were like towers;
Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.
11 Solomon had a (I)vineyard at Baal-hamon;
He (J)entrusted the vineyard to (K)caretakers.
Each one was to bring a (L)thousand shekels of silver for its (M)fruit.
12 My very own vineyard is [c]at my disposal;
The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”
The Groom
The Bride
45 (A)Therefore many of the Jews (B)who came to Mary, and (C)saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the (D)Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
Conspiracy to Kill Jesus
47 Therefore (E)the chief priests and the Pharisees (F)convened a (G)council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we [a]doing in regard to the fact that this man is performing many [b](H)signs? 48 If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our [c](I)place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, (J)Caiaphas, (K)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor are you taking into account that (L)it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.” 51 Now he did not say this [d]on his own, but (M)as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation; 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also (N)gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they (O)planned together to kill Him.
54 Therefore Jesus (P)no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called (Q)Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
55 Now (R)the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, (S)in order to [e]purify themselves. 56 So they (T)were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now (U)the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.