Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 29
A Psalm of David.
1 Give to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
give to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Give to the Lord the glory of His name;
worship the Lord in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders;
the Lord is over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord sounds with strength;
the voice of the Lord—with majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes
like flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer to give birth,
and strips the forests bare;
and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood,
the Lord sits as King forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to His people;
the Lord will bless His people with peace.
The Vanity of Pleasure
2 And I said in my heart, “Come, and I will test you with selfish pleasures to experience desires.” And notice that this too is vanity. 2 And I said of frivolous fun, “They are only senseless ideas”; and regarding selfish pleasure, “What purpose is this?” 3 I investigated how to cheer up my body with wine, while my heart was still guiding me with wisdom, in order to grasp folly until I might experience what is good for sons of men to do under heaven during the number of days that they might have life.
4 I accomplished great works. I built houses for myself, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made for myself royal gardens and parks, and I planted in them all sorts of fruit trees. 6 I made for myself pools of water to irrigate the forests of growing trees. 7 I even bought male and female slaves; even some were born to me in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks more than any who had been in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and treasures of kings and provinces. I obtained singers, both men and women, and the delights of the sons of men, and many concubines. 9 So I became great and surpassed anyone who had been in Jerusalem before me. All the while my wisdom remained with me.
10 And everything that my eyes wanted I did not refuse them.
And I did not withhold my heart from any selfish pleasure,
for my heart was glad from all my efforts;
and this was my reward for all my efforts.
11 Then I turned to all the work that my hands had designed
and all the labor that I had toiled to make;
and notice, all of it was vanity and chasing the wind.
And there was no benefit under the sun.
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
2 Brothers, when I came to you, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The Revelation by God’s Spirit
6 Yet we speak wisdom among those who are mature, although not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age knew it. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written,
“Eye has not seen,
nor ear heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[a]
10 But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.