Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
What Is the Measure of My Days?
To the choirmaster: to (A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39 I said, “I will (B)guard my ways,
that I (C)may not sin with my tongue;
I will (D)guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was (E)mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My (F)heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, (G)make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and (H)my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely (I)all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man (J)goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing[a] they are in turmoil;
man (K)heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
(L)My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
(M)Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 (N)I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
(O)for it is you who have done it.
10 (P)Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with (Q)rebukes for sin,
you (R)consume like a (S)moth what is dear to him;
(T)surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into (A)the Negeb and go up into (B)the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is (C)rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. (D)Be of good courage and bring 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 (E)from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, (F)near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into (G)the Negeb and came to (H)Hebron. (I)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the (J)descendants of Anak, were there. ((K)Hebron was built seven years before (L)Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And (M)they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,[a] because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
Report of the Spies
25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at (N)Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It (O)flows with milk and honey, (P)and this is its fruit.
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
18 (A)He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like (B)a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 (C)It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in (D)three measures of flour, until it was (E)all leavened.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.