Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³ Lord, what are human beings that you take care of them?
    What are mere people that you think about them?
⁴ Their lives don’t last any longer than a breath.
    Their days are like a shadow that quickly disappears.

⁵ Lord, open up your heavens and come down.
    Touch the mountains, and they will pour out smoke.
⁶ Send flashes of lightning and scatter my enemies.
    Shoot your arrows and chase them away.
⁷ My enemies are like a mighty flood.
    Reach down from heaven and save me.
    Save me from outsiders who attack me.
⁸ They tell all kinds of lies with their mouths.
    Even when they make a promise by raising their right hands, they don’t mean it.

⁹ My God, I will sing a new song to you.
    I will make music to you on a lyre that has ten strings.
¹⁰ You are the God who helps kings win battles.
    You save your servant David.

From death by the sword ¹¹ save me.
    Set me free from outsiders who attack me.
They tell all kinds of lies with their mouths.
    Even when they make a promise by raising their right hands, they don’t mean it.

¹² While our sons are young,
    they will be like healthy plants.
Our daughters will be like pillars
    that have been made to decorate a palace.
¹³ Our storerooms will be filled
    with every kind of food.
The sheep in our fields will increase by thousands.
    They will increase by tens of thousands.
¹⁴     Our oxen will pull heavy loads.
None of our city walls will be broken down.
    No one will be carried off as a prisoner.
    No cries of pain will be heard in our streets.

¹⁵ Blessed is the nation about whom all these things are true.
    Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

¹⁰ “ ‘Israel, you were like a vine in a vineyard.
    It was planted near water.
It had a lot of fruit and many branches.
    There was plenty of water.
¹¹ Its branches were strong.
    Each was good enough to be made into a ruler’s scepter.
The vine grew high
    above all the leaves.
It stood out because it was so tall
    and had so many branches.
¹² But Nebuchadnezzar became angry.
    He pulled it up by its roots.
    He threw it to the ground.
The east wind dried it up.
    Its fruit was stripped off.
Its strong branches dried up.
    And fire destroyed them.
¹³ Now it is planted in the Babylonian desert.
    It is in a dry and thirsty land.
¹⁴ One of its main branches was Zedekiah.
    Fire spread from it and burned up its fruit.
None of its branches is good enough
    to be made into a ruler’s scepter.’

“Look! I am placing a stone in Zion.
    It is a chosen and very valuable stone.
    It is the most important stone in the building.
The one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.” (Isaiah 28:16)

“The stone the builders did not accept
    has become the most important stone of all.” (Psalm 118:22)

“It is a stone that causes people to trip.
    It is a rock that makes them fall.” (Isaiah 8:14)