Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 34[a]
Presence of God, Protector of the Righteous
1 Of David. When he pretended to be mad before Abimelech, who forced him to depart.[b]
2 [c]I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will be continually on my lips.
3 My soul[d] will glory in the Lord;
let the lowly hear and be glad.
4 Magnify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
5 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he set me free from all my fears.
6 Look to him and you will be radiant;
your faces will never be covered with shame.
7 In my anguish[e] I cried out;
the Lord heard my plea,
and I was saved from all my troubles.
8 The angel of the Lord[f] encamps around those who fear God,
and he delivers them.
9 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed[g] is the man who takes refuge in him.
10 Fear the Lord,[h] you his saints;
nothing is lacking for those who fear him.
11 The powerful[i] suffer want and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord want for no good thing.
12 [j]Come, my children,[k] and listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
13 Who among you delights in life
and desires many years to enjoy prosperity?[l]
14 Then keep your tongue[m] from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
15 Shun evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
16 [n]The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
17 The face of the Lord is turned against those who do evil,
to erase all memory of them from the earth.
18 [o]The righteous call out, and the Lord hears them;
he rescues them from all their troubles.
19 The Lord remains close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 [p]The misfortunes of the righteous man are many,
but the Lord delivers him,[q] from all of them.
21 He watches with care over all his bones;
not a single one will be broken.
22 [r]Evil will bring death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
23 The Lord redeems the lives of those who serve him;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
10 and your mouth like fragrant wine.
Come, My Beloved, I Will Give You My Love[a]
Bride:
[b]May the wine go straight to my beloved,
gliding over the lips and teeth.
11 I belong to my beloved,
and his desire is for me.[c]
12 Come, my beloved,
let us go forth into the fields
and spend the night in the villages.
13 Let us go to the vineyards early
and see if the vines are budding,
if their blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom;
there I will give you my love.
14 The mandrakes[d] emit their fragrance,
and at our doors are the rarest of fruits,
fresh as well as ripened,
which I have kept in store for you, my beloved.
Chapter 8
1 Oh, if only you were to me like a brother,
nursed at my mother’s breast.
Then if I met you out of doors,
I could kiss you
without people regarding me with scorn.[e]
2 I would lead you
and bring you into the home of my mother.
There you would teach me to give you spiced wine to drink
and the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
Bridegroom:
4 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem:
Do not stir up or awaken love
before its time has come.[f]
25 When the people found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
you came looking for me
not because you have seen signs
but because you ate the loaves
and your hunger was satisfied.
27 Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For it is on him
that God the Father has set his seal.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do if we are to carry out the works of God?” 29 Jesus replied,
“This is the work of God:
to believe in the one whom he has sent.”
30 They asked him further, “What sign can you give us that we can see and come to believe in you? What work will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven[a] to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus replied,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses
who gave you the bread from heaven.
It is my Father
who gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is
he who comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
34 The Bread of Life.[b]“Sir,” they begged him, “give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus answered them,
“I am[c] the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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