Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 127
The Blessing of the Lord
A Solomonic song of ascents.
The Twilight of Life
12 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth:
Before the days of adversity come,
and the years approach when you will say,(A)
“I have no delight in them”;
2 before the sun and the light are darkened,(B)
and the moon and the stars,
and the clouds return after[a] the rain;
3 on the day when the guardians of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
the women who grind cease because they are few,
and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,(C)
4 the doors at the street are shut
while the sound of the mill fades;(D)
when one rises at the sound of a bird,
and all the daughters of song grow faint.
5 Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road;
the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper loses its spring,[b]
and the caper berry has no effect;
for man is headed to his eternal home,(E)
and mourners will walk around in the street;(F)
6 before the silver cord is snapped,[c]
and the gold bowl is broken,(G)
and the jar is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel is broken into the well;
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it once was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.(H)
8 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.”(I)
The Cure for Anxiety
22 Then He said to His disciples: “Therefore I tell you,(A) don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.(B) 23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens:(C) They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them.(D) Aren’t you worth much more than the birds? 25 Can any of you add a cubit to his height[a] by worrying?(E) 26 If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?
27 “Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon(F) in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 28 If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you—you of little faith?(G) 29 Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious. 30 For the Gentile world eagerly seeks(H) all these things, and your Father(I) knows that you need them.
31 “But seek His kingdom,(J) and these things will be provided for you.(K)
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