Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A psalm of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you angels in heaven.
Praise the Lord for his glory and strength.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory that belongs to him.
Worship the Lord because of his beauty and holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is heard over the waters.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees.
The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon into pieces.
6 He makes the mountains of Lebanon leap like a calf.
He makes Mount Hermon jump like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert.
The Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists the oak trees.
It strips the forests bare.
And in his temple everyone cries out, “Glory!”
10 The Lord on his throne rules over the flood.
The Lord rules from his throne as King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people.
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
Pleasure Is Meaningless
2 I said to myself, “Come on. I’ll try out pleasure. I want to find out if it is good.” But it also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “And what can pleasure do for me?” 3 I tried cheering myself up by drinking wine. I even tried living in a foolish way. But wisdom was still guiding my mind. I wanted to see what was good for people to do on earth during their short lives.
4 So I started some large projects. I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made lakes to water groves of healthy trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves. And I had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem ever had before. 8 I stored up silver and gold for myself. I gathered up the treasures of kings and their kingdoms. I got some male and female singers. I also got many women for myself. Women delight the hearts of men. 9 I became far more important than anyone in Jerusalem had ever been before. And in spite of everything, I didn’t lose my wisdom.
10 I gave myself everything my eyes wanted.
There wasn’t any pleasure that I refused to give myself.
I took delight in everything I did.
And that was what I got for all my work.
11 But then I looked over everything my hands had done.
I saw what I had worked so hard to get.
And nothing had any meaning.
It was like chasing the wind.
Nothing was gained on this earth.
2 And this was the way it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I didn’t come with fancy words or human wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God’s love. 2 My goal while I was with you was to talk about only one thing. And that was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3 When I came to you, I was weak and very afraid and trembling all over. 4 I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. Instead, my preaching showed the Holy Spirit’s power. 5 This was so that your faith would be based on God’s power. Your faith would not be based on human wisdom.
God’s Wisdom Through the Holy Spirit
6 The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the wisdom of this world. Our words are different from those of the rulers of this world. These rulers are becoming less and less powerful. 7 No, we announce God’s wisdom. His wisdom is a mystery that has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory. 8 None of the rulers of this world understood God’s wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross. 9 It is written that
“no eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
and no human mind has known.” (Isaiah 64:4)
God has prepared these things for those who love him.
10 God has shown these things to us through his Spirit.
The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God.
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