Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book 1
Psalms 1—41
Two Ways to Live
1 Happy is the person who doesn’t listen to the wicked.
He doesn’t go where sinners go.
He doesn’t do what bad people do.
2 He loves the Lord’s teachings.
He thinks about those teachings day and night.
3 He is strong, like a tree planted by a river.
It produces fruit in season.
Its leaves don’t die.
Everything he does will succeed.
4 But wicked people are not like that.
They are like useless chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 So the wicked will not escape God’s punishment.
Sinners will not worship God with good people.
6 This is because the Lord protects good people.
But the wicked will be destroyed.
18 “There are three things that are too hard for me.
There are really four that I don’t understand:
19 the way an eagle flies in the sky,
the way a snake slides over a rock,
the way a ship sails on the sea
and the way a man acts with a girl.
20 “This is the way a woman who takes part in adultery acts:
She sins and doesn’t care.
She says, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’
21 “There are three things that make the earth tremble.
There are really four that it cannot stand:
22 a servant who becomes a king,
a foolish person who has plenty to eat,
23 a hateful woman who gets married
and a maid who replaces her mistress.
24 “There are four things on earth that are small.
But they are very wise:
25 Ants are not very strong.
But they store up food in the summer.
26 Rock badgers are not powerful animals.
But they can live among the rocks.
27 Locusts have no king.
But they all go out in formation.
28 And lizards can be caught in the hand.
But they are found even in kings’ palaces.
29 “There are three things that strut proudly.
There are really four that walk as if they are important:
30 Lions are the proudest animals.
They are strong and run from nothing.
31 Roosters and male goats strut proudly.
And so does a king when his army is around him.
32 “You may have been foolish and proud.
If you planned evil, cover your mouth.
33 Stirring milk makes butter.
Twisting noses makes them bleed.
And stirring up anger makes trouble.”
25 I want you to understand this secret truth, brothers. This truth will help you understand that you do not know everything. The truth is this: Part of Israel has been made stubborn. But that will change when many non-Jews have come to God. 26 And that is how all Israel will be saved. It is written in the Scriptures:
“The Savior will come from Jerusalem;
he will take away all evil from the family of Jacob.[a]
27 And I will make this agreement with those people
when I take away their sins.” Isaiah 59:20-21; 27:9
28 The Jews refuse to accept the Good News, so they are God’s enemies. This has happened to help you non-Jews. But the Jews are still God’s chosen people, and God loves them very much. He loves them because of the promises he made to their ancestors. 29 God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things he gives them. 30 At one time you refused to obey God. But now you have received mercy, because those people refused to obey. 31 And now the Jews refuse to obey, because God showed mercy to you. But this happened so that they also can[b] receive mercy from God. 32 All people have refused to obey God. God has given them all over to their stubborn ways, so that God can show mercy to all.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.