Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
[a] Of David, when he (A)changed his behaviour before (B)Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
34 I will bless the Lord (C)at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul (D)makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and (E)be glad.
3 Oh, (F)magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I (G)sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are (H)radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 (I)This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and (J)saved him out of all his troubles.
7 (K)The angel of the Lord (L)encamps
round those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, (M)taste and see that (N)the Lord is good!
(O)Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 (P)The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who (Q)seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 (R)Come, O children, listen to me;
(S)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 (T)What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may (U)see good?
13 (V)Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from (W)speaking deceit.
14 (X)Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and (Y)pursue it.
15 (Z)The eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous
(AA)and his ears towards their cry.
16 (AB)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to (AC)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 (AD)When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to (AE)the broken-hearted
and saves (AF)the crushed in spirit.
19 (AG)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(AH)but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
(AI)not one of them is broken.
21 (AJ)Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord (AK)redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be (AL)condemned.
5 The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and (A)it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
(B)and all of it rises like the Nile,
(C)and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 (D)who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
(E)who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
(F)the Lord is his name.
7 “Are you not like (G)the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
(H)“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and (I)the Philistines from (J)Caphtor and the Syrians from (K)Kir?
8 Behold, (L)the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
(M)except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
(N)and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, (O)‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
The Restoration of Israel
11 “In that day (P)I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 (Q)that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and (R)all the nations who are called by my name,”[a]
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
(S)“when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
(T)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 (U)I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and (V)they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
(W)they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 (X)I will plant them on their land,
(Y)and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land (Z)that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: (A)forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal for (B)the prize of the upward (C)call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are (D)mature think this way, and if in anything (E)you think otherwise, (F)God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only (G)let us hold true to what we have attained.
17 Brothers, (H)join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk (I)according to the example you have in us. 18 For (J)many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you (K)even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 (L)Their end is destruction, (M)their god is their belly, and (N)they glory in their shame, with (O)minds set on earthly things. 20 But (P)our citizenship is in heaven, and (Q)from it we (R)await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform (S)our lowly body (T)to be like his glorious body, (U)by the power that enables him even (V)to subject all things to himself.
4 Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and (W)long for, (X)my joy and (Y)crown, (Z)stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.