Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Blessed is every one that fears the LORD, that walks in his ways.
2 When thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house; thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that fears the LORD.
5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children and peace upon Israel.
27 ¶ Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
2 ¶ Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
3 ¶ A stone is heavy and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is impetuous, but who is able to stand before envy?
5 ¶ Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7 ¶ The full soul loathes a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 ¶ As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place.
9 ¶ Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so does the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
10 Do not forsake thine own friend and thy father’s friend, neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity, for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
11 ¶ My son, be wise and make my heart glad that I may answer him that reproaches me.
12 ¶ A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are hurt by it.
13 ¶ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger and take a pledge of him that is surety for a strange woman.
14 ¶ He that blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
15 ¶ A continual dripping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
16 Whosoever hides her hides the wind, because the oil in his right hand cries out.
17 ¶ Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
18 ¶ Whosoever keeps the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof, so he that waits on his master shall be honoured.
19 ¶ As in water face corresponds to face, so the heart of man to man.
20 ¶ Sheol and hell are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21 ¶ As the fining pot tries the silver and the furnace the gold; so the man is tried by the mouth of whoever praises him.
22 ¶ Though thou should bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
23 ¶ Be thou diligent to know the countenance of thy sheep, and put thy heart into thy herds.
24 For riches are not for ever, and does the crown endure to every generation?
25 The tender grass shows itself, and the hay appears, and the herbs of the mountains are reaped.
26 The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are for the price of the field.
27 And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 ¶ Murmur not against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil of his brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a keeper of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou to judge another?
13 Come now, ye that say, Today and tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain;
14 and ye do not know what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? Certainly it is a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Ye ought to say instead, If the Lord wills, and if we live, we shall do this or that.
16 But now ye boast in your arrogance; all such glory is evil.
17 Therefore sin is still in the one that knows to do good and does not do it.
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