Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 34[a]
By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.[b]
34 I will praise[c] the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.[d]
2 I will boast[e] in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.[f]
3 Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise[g] his name together.
4 I sought the Lord’s help[h] and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.[i]
6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him[j] from all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s[k] loyal followers[l] and delivers them.[m]
8 Taste[n] and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed[o] is the one[p] who takes shelter in him.[q]
9 Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,[r]
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come children. Listen to me.
I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.[s]
12 Do you want to really live?[t]
Would you love to live a long, happy life?[u]
13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words[v]
or use deceptive speech.[w]
14 Turn away from evil and do what is right.[x]
Strive for peace and promote it.[y]
15 The Lord pays attention to the godly
and hears their cry for help.[z]
16 But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.[aa]
17 The godly[ab] cry out and the Lord hears;
he saves them from all their troubles.[ac]
18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers[ad] those who are discouraged.[ae]
19 The godly[af] face many dangers,[ag]
but the Lord saves[ah] them[ai] from each one of them.
20 He protects[aj] all his bones;[ak]
not one of them is broken.[al]
21 Evil people self-destruct;[am]
those who hate the godly are punished.[an]
22 The Lord rescues his servants;[ao]
all who take shelter in him escape punishment.[ap]
5 The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies will do this.[a]
He touches the earth and it dissolves;[b]
all who live on it mourn.
The whole earth[c] rises like the Nile River,[d]
and then grows calm[e] like the Nile in Egypt.[f]
6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace[g] in heaven
and sets its foundation supports[h] on the earth.[i]
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.
7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,”[j] says the Lord.
“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor[k] and the Arameans from Kir.[l]
8 Look, the Sovereign Lord is watching[m] the sinful nation,[n]
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will not completely destroy the family[o] of Jacob,” says the Lord.
9 “For look, I am giving a command
and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.
It will resemble a sieve being shaken,
when not even a pebble falls to the ground.[p]
10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword—
the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’
The Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty
11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut[q] of David.
I will seal its[r] gaps,
repair its[s] ruins,
and restore it to what it was like in days gone by.[t]
12 As a result they[u] will conquer those left in Edom[v]
and all the nations subject to my rule.”[w]
The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking.
13 “Be sure of this,[x] the time is[y] coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper,[z]
and the one who stomps the grapes[aa] will overtake[ab] the planter.[ac]
Juice will run down the slopes;[ad]
it will flow down all the hillsides.[ae]
14 I will bring back my people, Israel;[af]
they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble[ag] and settle down.[ah]
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce;[ai]
they will grow orchards[aj] and eat the fruit they produce.[ak]
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted from the[al] land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
13 Brothers and sisters,[a] I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded:[b] Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 14 with this goal in mind,[c] I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God[d] in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view.[e] If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways.[f] 16 Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard[g] that we have already attained.[h]
17 Be imitators of me,[i] brothers and sisters,[j] and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. 18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things.[k] 20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours[l] into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
Christian Practices
4 So then, my brothers and sisters,[m] dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!
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