Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 128
A song of ascents.
1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,(A)
who walk in obedience to him.(B)
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;(C)
blessings and prosperity(D) will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine(E)
within your house;
your children(F) will be like olive shoots(G)
around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing(H)
for the man who fears the Lord.(I)
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.(C)
3 Stone is heavy and sand(D) a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?(E)
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.(F)
7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
8 Like a bird that flees its nest(G)
is anyone who flees from home.
9 Perfume(H) and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.
10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster(I) strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;(J)
then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.(K)
12 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.(L)
13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.(M)
14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.
15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping(N)
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
18 The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,(O)
and whoever protects their master will be honored.(P)
19 As water reflects the face,
so one’s life reflects the heart.[a]
21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,(S)
but people are tested by their praise.
22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
grinding them like grain with a pestle,
you will not remove their folly from them.
23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,(T)
give careful attention to your herds;
24 for riches do not endure forever,(U)
and a crown is not secure for all generations.
25 When the hay is removed and new growth appears
and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
26 the lambs will provide you with clothing,
and the goats with the price of a field.
27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family
and to nourish your female servants.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.(A) Wash your hands,(B) you sinners, and purify your hearts,(C) you double-minded.(D) 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.(E) 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.(F)
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.(G) Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them(H) speaks against the law(I) and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it,(J) but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,(K) the one who is able to save and destroy.(L) But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?(M)
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen,(N) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(O) 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(P) 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,(Q) we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.(R) 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.(S)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.