Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 24

A Psalm of David.

¹ The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it.^(A)

² For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the currents and the rivers.

³ Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place?

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.^(B)

⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶ This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob. Selah [pause, and think of that]!^(C)

⁷ Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lifted up, you age-abiding doors, that the King of glory may come in.

⁸ Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates; yes, lift them up, you age-abiding doors, that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰ Who is [He then] this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah [pause, and think of that]!

¹⁰ They shall make an ark of acacia wood: two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹ You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold crown, a rim or border, around its top.

¹² You shall cast four gold rings and attach them to the four lower corners of it, two rings on either side.

¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold,

¹⁴ And put the poles through the rings on the ark’s sides, by which to carry it.

¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [that the ark be not touched].

¹⁶ And you shall put inside the ark the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] which I will give you.

¹⁷ And you shall make a mercy seat (a covering) of pure gold, two cubits and a half long and a cubit and a half wide.

¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat.

¹⁹ Make one cherub on each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat, on the two ends of it.

²⁰ And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing each other and looking down toward the mercy seat.

²¹ You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] that I will give you.

²² There I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites.

2 For I want you to know how great is my solicitude for you [how severe an inward struggle I am engaged in for you] and for those [believers] at Laodicea, and for all who [^[a]like yourselves] have never seen my face and known me personally.

² [For my concern is] that their hearts may be ^[b]braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively ^[c]more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One).

³ In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom (^[d]comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.

⁴ I say this in order that no one may mislead and delude you by plausible and persuasive and attractive arguments and beguiling speech.

⁵ For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your [standing shoulder to shoulder in such] orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ [that ^[e]leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].