Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 21
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
21 The king celebrates your strength, Lord;
look how happy he is about your saving help!
2 You’ve given him what his heart desires;
you haven’t denied what his lips requested. Selah
3 You bring rich blessings right to him;
you put a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life,
and you gave it to him, all right—
long days, forever and always!
5 The king’s reputation is great
because of your saving help;
you’ve conferred on him glory and grandeur.
6 You grant him blessings forever;
you make him happy
with the joy of your presence.
7 Because the king trusts the Lord,
and because of the Most High’s faithful love,
he will not stumble.
8 Your hand will catch all your enemies;
your strong hand will catch all who hate you.
9 When you appear, Lord,
you will light them up like an oven on fire.
God will eat them whole in his anger;
fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the land;
destroy their descendants from the human race.
11 Because they sought to do you harm,
they devised a wicked plan—but they will fail!
12 Because you will make them turn and run
when you aim your bow straight at their faces!
13 Be exalted, Lord, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power!
14 Don’t fear, worm of Jacob,
people of Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord.
The holy one of Israel is your redeemer.
15 Look, I’ve made you
into a new threshing tool with sharp teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them;
you will reduce hills to straw.
16 When you winnow them,
the wind will carry them off;
the tempest will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord
and take pride in the holy one of Israel.
17 The poor and the needy seek water, and there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to them;
I, the God of Israel, won’t abandon them.
18 I will open streams on treeless hilltops
and springs in valleys.
I will make the desert into ponds
and dry land into cascades of water.
19 I will plant in the desert cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees;
I will put in the wilderness cypress, elm, and pine as well,
20 so that they will see and know
and observe and comprehend
that the Lord’s hand has done this,
and the holy one of Israel has created it.
Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles
14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and are able to teach each other. 15 But I’ve written to you in a sort of daring way, partly to remind you of what you already know. I’m writing to you in this way because of the grace that was given to me by God. 16 It helps me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I’m working as a priest of God’s gospel so that the offering of the Gentiles can be acceptable and made holy by the Holy Spirit. 17 So in Christ Jesus I brag about things that have to do with God. 18 I don’t dare speak about anything except what Christ has done through me to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles. He did it by what I’ve said and what I’ve done, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. So I’ve completed the circuit of preaching Christ’s gospel from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. 20 In this way, I have a goal to preach the gospel where they haven’t heard of Christ yet, so that I won’t be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Instead, as it’s written, Those who hadn’t been told about him will see, and those who hadn’t heard will understand.[a]
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible