Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my (A)shepherd; I shall not (B)want.
2 He makes me lie down in green (C)pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
3 He (D)restores my soul.
He (E)leads me in (F)paths of righteousness[b]
for his (G)name's sake.
Idols and the Living God
10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:
“Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
because the nations are dismayed at them,
3 (A)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.[a]
(B)A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 (C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
(D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols[b] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and (E)they cannot speak;
(F)they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
(G)for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
6 (H)There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 (I)Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
8 (J)They are both (K)stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 (L)Beaten silver is brought from (M)Tarshish,
and gold from (N)Uphaz.
(O)They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
(P)they are all the work of skilled men.
10 (Q)But the Lord is the true God;
(R)he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them: (S)“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth (T)shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”[c]
12 (U)It is he who (V)made the earth by his power,
(W)who established the world by his wisdom,
and (X)by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 (Y)When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
(Z)and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
(AA)He makes lightning (AB)for the rain,
(AC)and he brings forth the wind (AD)from his storehouses.
14 (AE)Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
(AF)every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
(AG)and there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is (AH)the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
(AI)and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
(AJ)the Lord of hosts is his name.
The Preeminence of Christ
15 (A)He is the image of (B)the invisible God, (C)the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by[a] him all things were created, (D)in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether (E)thrones or (F)dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created (G)through him and for him. 17 And (H)he is before all things, and in him all things (I)hold together. 18 And (J)he is the head of the body, the church. He is (K)the beginning, (L)the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For (M)in him all the (N)fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and (O)through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, (P)making peace (Q)by the blood of his cross.
21 (R)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, (S)doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled (T)in his body of flesh by his death, (U)in order to present you holy and blameless and (V)above reproach before him, 23 (W)if indeed you continue in the faith, (X)stable and steadfast, not shifting from (Y)the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed (Z)in all creation[b] under heaven, (AA)and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.