Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 139
God’s Attributes—Too Wonderful for Me!
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For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
God Is All-Knowing
1 Lord, you have investigated me,
and you know.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You understand my thoughts from far off.
3 You keep track of when I travel and when I stay,[a]
and you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before there is a word on my tongue,
you, Lord, already know it completely.
5 You put a fence behind me and in front of me,
and you have placed your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is too high—I cannot grasp it.
God Is Powerful and Good
13 For you created my inner organs.[a]
You wove me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and my soul knows that very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unfinished body.
In your book all of them were written.
Days were determined, before any of them existed.
17 Your thoughts to me are so precious, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
6 When Joshua dismissed the people, each of the descendants of Israel went to his own inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, those who had seen all the great deeds that the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. 9 They buried him within the borders of his inheritance, in Timnath Heres,[a] in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Ga’ash.
The Cycle
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them, who did not know the Lord or the deeds that he had done for Israel. 11 The people of Israel committed evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals, 12 and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them. They bowed down to them, and they angered the Lord. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtartes.[b]
14 So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of raiders, who plundered them. He sold them into the hand of their enemies around them, and they were not able to stand up in the face of their enemies. 15 Whenever the men of Israel went out, the hand of the Lord was against them to bring disaster on them, just as the Lord had said to them and just as the Lord had sworn to them. So they were greatly distressed.
Paul’s Defense
10 Now I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the humility and gentleness of Christ—I, who am “gentle” when I am in your presence, but “bold” toward you when I am away. 2 I pray that, when I arrive there, I may not have to be bold with the confidence that I expect to use in daring to confront some who think that we walk in the way the sinful flesh does. 3 For even though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war in the way the sinful flesh does. 4 Certainly, the weapons of our warfare are not those of the flesh, but weapons made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down thoughts 5 such as all arrogance that rises up against the knowledge of God, and we make every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is fully restored.
7 You are looking at things only according to the outward appearance. If anyone has convinced himself that he belongs to Christ, let him consider this about himself: We belong to Christ just as much as he does. 8 Indeed, even if I may boast some more about our authority, which the Lord has given for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame. 9 My purpose is not to seem as if I am trying to frighten you by my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his physical presence is weak, and his speech amounts to nothing.” 11 Let such a person consider this: What we are, by our word through letters when we are away, is just what we will be in our work when we are present.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.