Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Victory
Of David.
144 ·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord, my Rock [61:2],
who trains ·me [L my hands] for war,
who trains ·me [L my fingers] for battle.
2 ·He protects me like a strong, walled city, and he loves me [L He is my loyal one and my fortress].
He is my ·defender [stronghold] and my ·Savior [rescuer],
my shield ·and my protection [L in whom I find refuge].
He ·helps me keep my people under control [L subdues my people under me].
3 Lord, ·why are people important to you [L what are people that you care about them]?
·Why do you even think about human beings [L What are human beings that you think about them; 8:4]?
4 People are like ·a breath [vapor; 39:5, 11; 62:9; Eccl. 1:2];
their ·lives [L days] are like passing shadows [102:11; 109:23; Eccl. 6:12].
5 Lord, ·tear open [bend] the ·sky [heavens] and come down.
Touch the mountains so they will smoke [18:9; Ex. 19:11, 18–19].
6 Send the lightning and scatter ·my enemies [L them].
Shoot your arrows and ·force them away [rout them; 18:14].
7 ·Reach down [L Send forth your hand] from above.
·Save me [Set me free] and ·rescue [protect] me ·out of this sea of enemies [L from the mighty waters; C symbolizing chaos],
from ·these [L the hand/power of] foreigners.
8 ·They are liars [L Their mouths speak vanities/falsehood];
·they are dishonest [L their right hand is a false right hand].
9 God, I will sing a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] to you;
I will ·play [make a psalm] to you on the ten-stringed harp.
10 You give ·victory [salvation] to kings.
You ·save [set free] your servant David from ·cruel [evil] swords.
11 ·Save me [Set me free], ·rescue [protect] me from ·these [L the hand/power of the] foreigners.
·They are liars [L Their mouths speak vanities/falsehood]; ·they are dishonest [L their right hand is a false right hand].
12 Let our sons in their youth
·grow like plants [or be like full-grown plants; C robust and vital; 128:3].
Let our daughters be
like the ·decorated [cut] ·stones [or pillars] in the ·Temple [or palace; C stately and beautiful].
13 Let our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
Let our sheep in the fields have
thousands and tens of thousands of lambs.
14 Let our cattle be ·strong [well fed; or heavy with young].
Let ·no one break in [L there be no breach; or no miscarriage; C in the city walls].
Let there be no ·war [L going out; C in war or exile, or perhaps referring to premature birth],
no screams in our ·streets [public areas].
15 ·Happy [Blessed] are ·those [L the people] who are like this;
·happy [blessed] are the people whose God is the Lord.
The Friends Speak
5 Who is this coming out of the ·desert [wilderness; 3:6],
leaning on her lover?
The Man Speaks to the Woman
I ·woke [aroused] you under the apple tree
where ·you were born [L your mother conceived you];
there ·your mother gave birth to you [L the one who gave you birth conceived you].
6 ·Put [Set] me like a seal [C leaving an impression on clay, showing ownership] on your heart [C inside],
like a seal on your arm [C outside].
Love is as strong as death;
·jealousy [or passion] is as ·strong [tenacious] as the grave.
·Love bursts into flames [L Its flame is an intense fire]
·and burns like a hot fire [or a godlike flame].
7 Even much water cannot put out the flame of love;
floods cannot ·drown [flood] love.
If a man offered ·everything [L all the wealth] in his house for love,
·people would totally reject it [or he would be completely despised].
The Woman’s Brothers Speak
8 We have a ·little [small] sister,
and ·her breasts are not yet grown [L she has no breasts].
What should we do for our sister
on the day she ·becomes engaged [L is spoken for; C brothers were in charge of marriage negotiations]?
9 If she is a wall [C chaste],
we will put silver towers on her [C support and honor her].
If she is a door [C promiscuous],
we will ·protect [enclose] her with cedar boards [C put a stop to her sexual activity].
The Woman Speaks
10 I am a wall [C chaste],
and my breasts are like towers [C she is mature].
So I ·was to him [or will be in his eyes],
as one who brings ·happiness [peace; contentment].
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He ·rented [entrusted] the vineyards ·for others to tend [or to guards],
and everyone who rented had to pay
·twenty-five pounds [L a thousand pieces] of silver for the fruit.
12 But my own vineyard is mine ·to give [alone].
Solomon, the ·twenty-five pounds [L thousand pieces] of silver are for you,
and ·five pounds [L two hundred] are for those who ·tend [guard] the fruit.
The Man Speaks to the Woman
13 You who live in the gardens,
my friends are listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
The Woman Speaks to the Man
14 ·Hurry [Sneak away], my lover,
be like a gazelle
or a young deer
on the mountains where spices grow.
The Plan to Kill Jesus
45 [L So] Many of the ·people [L Jews], who had come to visit Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the ·leading [T chief] priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the ·council [L Sanhedrin; C the highest Jewish court of the time]. They asked, “·What should we do? [or What are we accomplishing?] This man is doing many ·miracles [L signs]. 48 If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our ·Temple [L place; C probably a reference to the “holy place”—the Jerusalem Temple] and our nation.”
49 One of the men there was Caiaphas, the high priest that year. [C He was high priest between ad 18 and 36.] He said, “·You people know nothing [You don’t know what you are talking about]! 50 You don’t realize that it is better [L for you] for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”
51 Caiaphas did not ·think of this himself [L say this from himself]. As high priest that year, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for their nation 52 and for God’s scattered children to bring them all together and make them one. [C Although Caiaphas was thinking politically, his words predicted spiritual salvation.]
53 [L So from] That day they started ·planning [plotting] to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer ·traveled [L walked] openly among the ·people [Jews]. He ·left there [withdrew; departed] and went to a ·place [region] near the ·desert [wilderness], to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his ·followers [disciples].
55 It was almost time for the ·Passover Feast [L Passover of the Jews; C the annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12; John 2:13]. Many from the country went up to Jerusalem before the Passover to ·do the special things to make themselves pure [L purify/consecrate themselves; Num. 9:6–13]. 56 The people ·looked for [sought] Jesus and stood in the Temple [courts] asking each other, “·Is he [L Surely he is not] coming to the Feast? What do you think?” 57 But the ·leading [T chief] priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must tell them. Then they could ·arrest [seize] him.
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