Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 116[a]
116 I love the Lord
because he heard my plea for mercy,[b]
2 and listened to me.[c]
As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help.[d]
3 The ropes of death tightened around me,[e]
the snares[f] of Sheol confronted me.
I was confronted[g] with trouble and sorrow.
4 I called on the name of the Lord,
“Please, Lord, rescue my life!”
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all his acts of kindness to me?
13 I will celebrate my deliverance,[a]
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
before all his people.
15 The Lord values
the lives of his faithful followers.[b]
16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your female servant.[c]
You saved me from death.[d]
17 I will present a thank offering to you,
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
before all his people,
19 in the courts of the Lord’s temple,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
25 O Lord, you are my God![a]
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.[b]
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed.[c]
2 Indeed,[d] you have made the city[e] into a heap of rubble,
the fortified town into a heap of ruins;
the fortress of foreigners[f] is no longer a city,
it will never be rebuilt.
3 So a strong nation will extol you;
the towns of[g] powerful nations will fear you.
4 For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants[h] is like a winter rainstorm,[i]
5 like heat[j] in a dry land,
you humble the boasting foreigners.[k]
Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside,[l]
so he causes the song of tyrants to cease.[m]
8 You[a] have not seen him, but you love him. You[b] do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice[c] with an indescribable and glorious[d] joy, 9 because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation,[e] the prophets[f] who predicted the grace that would come to you[g] searched and investigated carefully. 11 They probed[h] into what person or time[i] the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ[j] and his subsequent glory.[k] 12 They were shown[l] that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of.
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