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.
There Is a Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything.
There’s a time for everything that is done on earth.
2 There is a time to be born.
And there’s a time to die.
There is a time to plant.
And there’s a time to pull up what is planted.
3 There is a time to kill.
And there’s a time to heal.
There is a time to tear down.
And there’s a time to build up.
4 There is a time to weep.
And there’s a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad.
And there’s a time to dance.
5 There is a time to scatter stones.
And there’s a time to gather them.
There is a time to embrace someone.
And there’s a time not to embrace.
6 There is a time to search.
And there’s a time to stop searching.
There is a time to keep.
And there’s a time to throw away.
7 There is a time to tear.
And there’s a time to mend.
There is a time to be silent.
And there’s a time to speak.
8 There is a time to love.
And there’s a time to hate.
There is a time for war.
And there’s a time for peace.
9 What do workers get for their hard work? 10 I’ve seen the heavy load God has put on human beings. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also given people a sense of who he is. But they can’t completely understand what God has done from beginning to end. 12 People should be happy and do good while they live. I know there’s nothing better for them to do than that. 13 Each of them should eat and drink. People should be satisfied with all their hard work. That is God’s gift to them. 14 I know that everything God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it. And nothing can be taken from it. God does that so people will have respect for him.
15 Everything that now exists has already been.
And what is coming has existed before.
God will judge those who treat others badly.
11 Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person’s own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God’s thoughts. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us. 13 That is what we speak about. We don’t use words taught to us by people. We use words taught to us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words taught by the Spirit to explain spiritual truths. 14 The person without the Spirit doesn’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. These things are foolish to them. They can’t understand them. In fact, such things can’t be understood without the Spirit’s help. 15 The person who has the Spirit can judge all things. But no human being can judge those who have the Spirit. It is written,
16 “Who can ever know what is in the Lord’s mind?
Can anyone ever teach him?” (Isaiah 40:13)
But we have the mind of Christ.
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