Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 146
Praise Him for Protection
Praise for Protection
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
A Lifetime of Praise
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will make music to my God as long as I exist.
No Help in Humans
3 Do not trust in human helpers,[b]
in a mortal man who cannot save you.
4 His spirit departs.
He returns to the ground he came from.
On that day, his plans have perished.
Help in the Lord
5 Blessed is everyone who has the God of Jacob as his help.
His hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything which is in them.
He is the one who stays faithful forever.
7 He obtains justice for the oppressed.
He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the aliens.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but he turns aside the way of the wicked.
An Eternity for Praise
10 The Lord reigns forever.
Your God, O Zion, rules for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
2 Rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord is the maker of them all.
3 A sensible person sees trouble and hides,
but the naïve keep going and pay the penalty.
4 The outcome of humility and of the fear of the Lord
is wealth, honor, and life.
5 Thorns and traps are on the road followed by the crooked.
Whoever guards his soul[a] will stay far away from them.
6 Dedicate[b] a child to the way he should go,
and even when he becomes old, he will not turn away from it.
7 A rich person rules over poor people,
and a borrower is a slave to a lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice reaps trouble,
and the rod that inflicts his fury will be destroyed.
9 A generous person will be blessed,
because he gives some of his food to the poor.
10 Drive away a scoffer, and conflict leaves.
Quarrels and insults cease.
11 A person who loves a pure heart and whose lips are gracious
will have a king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge.
He overturns the words of a treacherous person.
13 A lazy person says, “There’s a lion outside!
I’ll be murdered in the streets!”
14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit.
The man who is under the Lord’s wrath will fall there.
15 Foolishness is bound tightly to a child’s heart.
A rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to become great,
and whoever gives gifts to the rich—
both are sure to suffer loss.
8 I do not say this as a command, but to test how genuine your love is, by comparing it with the eagerness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.
10 And I am giving advice in this matter because it is going to be helpful for you. Last year, you were not only the first to take action, but also the first to be willing. 11 Now bring the work to completion too, so that your eagerness to start may be matched by your completing it with what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is there, a gift is acceptable according to what someone has, not according to what he does not have.
13 Certainly, our goal is not that others take it easy while you are burdened, but that there may be equality. 14 At the present time, your abundance will provide what they lack, in order that their abundance will also provide what you lack—in this way there will be equality. 15 As it is written, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”[a]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.