Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 16
Song of Trust and Security in God
A Miktam of David.
1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.(A)
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”[a]
3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble ones
in whom is all my delight.(B)
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;[b]
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.(C)
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.(D)
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.(E)
7 I bless the Lord, who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.(F)
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.(G)
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.(H)
10 For you do not give me up to Sheol
or let your faithful one see the Pit.(I)
11 You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.(J)
Nebuchadnezzar’s Humiliation
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.(A) 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king said, “Is this not magnificent Babylon, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?”(B) 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven: “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: The kingdom is taken from you!(C) 32 You shall be driven away from human society, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you, until you have learned that the Most High has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the sentence was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven away from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails became like birds’ claws.(D)
Nebuchadnezzar Praises God
34 When that period was over, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me.
I blessed the Most High
and praised and honored the one who lives forever.
For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.(E)
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does what he wills with the host of heaven
and the inhabitants of the earth.
There is no one who can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”(F)
36 At that time my reason returned to me, and my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom. My counselors and my lords sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.(G) 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven,
for all his works are truth,
and his ways are justice;
he is able to bring low
those who walk in pride.(H)
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
12 Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went away.(A) 2 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5 Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[a](B)
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?”
12 When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.