Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
My Rock and My Fortress
Of David.
144 Blessed be the Lord, my (A)rock,
(B)who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
2 he is my (C)steadfast love and my (D)fortress,
my (E)stronghold and my deliverer,
my (F)shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who (G)subdues peoples[a] under me.
3 O Lord, (H)what is man that you (I)regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
4 (J)Man is like a breath;
his days are like (K)a passing (L)shadow.
5 (M)Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
(N)Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
6 (O)Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
(P)send out your arrows and rout them!
7 (Q)Stretch out your hand from on high;
(R)rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand (S)of foreigners,
8 whose mouths speak (T)lies
and whose right hand is (U)a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing (V)a new song to you, O God;
upon (W)a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10 who gives victory to kings,
who (X)rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand (Y)of foreigners,
whose mouths speak (Z)lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth
be like (AA)plants full grown,
our daughters like (AB)corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
13 (AC)may our granaries be full,
(AD)providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our fields;
14 may our cattle be heavy with young,
suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;[b]
may there be no (AE)cry of distress in our streets!
15 (AF)Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
(AG)Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
5 (A)Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labour with you;
there she who bore you was in labour.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as (B)a seal upon your arm,
for (C)love is strong as death,
(D)jealousy[a] is fierce as the grave.[b]
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very (E)flame of the Lord.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his (F)house,
he[c] would be utterly despised.
Final Advice
Others
8 We have a little sister,
and she (G)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 enclose her with (H)boards of cedar.
She
10 (I)I was a wall,
and my (J)breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds[d] peace.
11 Solomon had (K)a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
he (L)let out the vineyard to (M)keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruit (N)a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
and (O)the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
He
13 (P)O you who dwell in the gardens,
with (Q)companions listening for your voice;
(R)let me hear it.
She
14 (S)Make haste, my beloved,
and be (T)like a gazelle
or a young stag
on (U)the mountains of spices.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 (A)Many of the Jews therefore, (B)who had come with Mary and (C)had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees (D)gathered (E)the Council and said, (F)“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and (G)the Romans will come and take away both our (H)place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, (I)Caiaphas, (J)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that (K)it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but (L)being high priest that year (M)he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and (N)not for the nation only, but also (O)to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they (P)made plans to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore (Q)no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now (R)the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and (S)many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover (T)to purify themselves. 56 (U)They were looking for[a] Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.