Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Joyful Return to Zion
A Song of Ascents.
126 When (A)the Lord brought back [a]the captivity of Zion,
(B)We were like those who dream.
2 Then (C)our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the [b]nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
4 Bring back our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
2 O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
(A)And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
Pressing Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already (A)attained,[a] or am already (B)perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [b]apprehended; but one thing I do, (C)forgetting those things which are behind and (D)reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 (E)I press toward the goal for the prize of (F)the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Therefore let us, as many as are (G)mature, (H)have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, (I)God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already [c]attained, (J)let us walk (K)by the same [d]rule, let us be of the same mind.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.