Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 16
A miktam[a] of David.
16 Protect me, God, because I take refuge in you.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
Apart from you, I have nothing good.”
3 Now as for the “holy ones” in the land,
the “magnificent ones” that I was so happy about;
4 let their suffering increase because
they hurried after a different god.[b]
I won’t participate in their blood offerings;
I won’t let their names cross my lips.
5 You, Lord, are my portion, my cup;
you control my destiny.
6 The property lines have fallen beautifully for me;
yes, I have a lovely home.
7 I will bless the Lord who advises me;
even at night I am instructed
in the depths of my mind.
8 I always put the Lord in front of me;
I will not stumble because he is on my right side.
9 That’s why my heart celebrates and my mood is joyous;
yes, my whole body will rest in safety
10 because you won’t abandon my life[c] to the grave;[d]
you won’t let your faithful follower see the pit.
11 You teach me the way of life.
In your presence is total celebration.
Beautiful things are always in your right hand.
15 Jacob ate until he was stuffed;[a]
Jeshurun[b] got fat, then rebellious.[c]
It was you who got fat, thick, stubborn![d]
Jeshurun[e] gave up on the God who made him,
thought the rock of his salvation was worthless.
16 They made God[f] jealous with strange gods,
aggravated him with detestable things.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
to deities of which they had no knowledge—
new gods only recently on the scene,
ones about which your ancestors had never heard.[g]
18 You deserted[h] the rock that sired you;
you forgot the God who gave birth to you!
19 The Lord saw this and rejected
out of aggravation his sons and his daughters.[i]
20 He said: I will hide my face from them—
I will see what becomes of them—
because they are a confused generation;
they are children lacking loyalty.
21 They provoked me with “no-gods,”
aggravated me with their pieces of junk.
So I am going to provoke them with “No-People,”
aggravate them with a nation of fools.
22 A fire burns in me—
it will blaze to the depths of the grave;[j]
it will destroy the land and its crops;
it will blacken the base of the mountains.
23 I’ll throw[k] on them disaster after disaster;
I’ll destroy them with my arrows:
24 devastating hunger, consuming plague, bitter sickness.
I’ll send animal fangs after them,
venom from dust crawlers too.
25 Outside, in the streets, the sword will bereave!
Inside, in the safest room, there will be terror
for young men and women,
nursing baby and senior citizen.
26 I thought about it: I could have struck them down,[l]
erased them from human memory,
27 but their enemies’ rage concerned me;
their opponents might misunderstand.
They might say, “Our strong hands,
not the Lord’s, did all this,”
39 Now, look here: I myself, I’m the one;
there are no other gods with me.
I’m the one who deals death and gives life;
I’m the one who wounded, but now I will heal.
There’s no escaping my hand.
40 But now I’m lifting my hand to heaven—
I swear by my own eternity:
41 when I sharpen my blazing sword
and my hand grabs hold of justice,
I’ll pay my enemies back;
I’ll punish in kind everyone who hates me.
42 I’ll make my arrows drink much blood,
while my sword devours flesh,
the blood of the dead and captured,
flowing from the heads of enemy generals.”[a]
43 Heavens:[b] Rejoice with God![c]
All you gods: bow down to the Lord![d]
Because he will avenge his children’s[e] blood;
he will pay back his enemies;
he will punish in kind those who hate him;[f]
he will cleanse his people’s land.[g]
21 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. 22 He said, “The Human One[a] must suffer many things and be rejected—by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts—and be killed and be raised on the third day.”
23 Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. 24 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them. 25 What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Human One[b] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see God’s kingdom.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible