Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 144[a]
A Prayer for Victory and Prosperity
1 Of David.
I
[b]Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle,
my fingers for war;
2 My safeguard and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
II
3 [c]Lord, what is man that you take notice of him;
the son of man, that you think of him?(A)
4 [d]Man is but a breath,
his days are like a passing shadow.(B)
5 [e]Lord, incline your heavens and come down;
touch the mountains and make them smoke.(C)
6 Flash forth lightning and scatter my foes;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach out your hand from on high;
deliver me from the many waters;
rescue me from the hands of foreign foes.
8 Their mouths speak untruth;
their right hands are raised in lying oaths.[f]
9 O God, a new song I will sing to you;
on a ten-stringed lyre I will play for you.(D)
10 You give victory to kings;
you delivered David your servant.(E)
From the menacing sword 11 deliver me;
rescue me from the hands of foreign foes.
Their mouths speak untruth;
their right hands are raised in lying oaths.
III
12 May our sons be like plants(F)
well nurtured from their youth,
Our daughters, like carved columns,
shapely as those of the temple.
13 May our barns be full
with every kind of store.
May our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
may our oxen be well fattened.
14 May there be no breach in the walls,
no exile, no outcry in our streets.(G)
15 Blessed the people so fortunate;
blessed the people whose God is the Lord.(H)
Allegory of the Vine Branch
10 Your mother was like a leafy vine[a]
planted by water,
Fruitful and full of branches
because of abundant water.
11 One strong branch grew
into a royal scepter.
So tall it towered among the clouds,
conspicuous in height,
with dense foliage.(A)
12 But she was torn out in fury
and flung to the ground;
The east wind withered her up,
her fruit was plucked away;
Her strongest branch dried up,
fire devoured it.(B)
13 Now she is planted in a wilderness,
in a dry, parched land.(C)
14 Fire flashed from her branch,
and devoured her shoots;
Now she does not have a strong branch,
a royal scepter!(D)
This is a lamentation and serves as a lamentation.
4 Come to him, a living stone,[a] rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God,(A) 5 and, like living stones, let yourselves be built[b] into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.(B) 6 For it says in scripture:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.”(C)
7 Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
“The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”(D)
8 and
“A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.”
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.(E)
9 [c]But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.(F)
10 Once you were “no people”
but now you are God’s people;
you “had not received mercy”
but now you have received mercy.(G)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.