Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 124
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
now may Israel say,
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up,
when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have overwhelmed us,
the torrent would have passed over our lives;
5 then the surging waters
would have gone over us.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us for a prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Beware of the Adulteress
7 My son, keep my words,
and lay up my commandments within you.
2 Keep my commandments and live,
and my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call understanding your kinswoman,
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts to men.”[a]
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also He who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.)
11 He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so we may no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness with deceitful scheming. 15 But, speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, Christ Himself, 16 from whom the whole body is joined together and connected by every joint and ligament, as every part effectively does its work and grows, building itself up in love.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.