Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
128 Blessed are all those who have respect for the Lord.
They live as he wants them to live.
2 Your work will give you what you need.
Blessings and good things will come to you.
3 As a vine bears a lot of fruit,
so may your wife have many children by you.
May they sit around your table
like young olive trees.
4 Only a man who has respect for the Lord
will be blessed like that.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion.
May you enjoy the good things that come to Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your grandchildren.
May Israel enjoy peace.
27 Don’t brag about tomorrow.
You don’t know what a day will bring.
2 Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth.
Let an outsider praise you, and not your own lips.
3 Stones are heavy, and sand weighs a lot.
But letting a foolish person make you angry is a heavier load than both of them.
4 Anger is mean, and great anger overpowers you.
But who can face jealousy?
5 Being warned openly is better
than being loved in secret.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted.
But an enemy kisses you many times.
7 When you are full, you even hate honey.
When you are hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet.
8 Anyone who runs away from home
is like a bird that flies away from its nest.
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to your heart.
And the sweetness of a friend comes from their honest advice.
10 Don’t desert your friend or a friend of your family.
And don’t go to your relative’s house when trouble strikes you.
A neighbor nearby is better than a relative far away.
11 My son, be wise and bring joy to my heart.
Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me.
12 Wise people see danger and go to a safe place.
But childish people keep on going and suffer for it.
13 Take the coat of one who puts up money for what a stranger owes.
Hold it until you get paid back if it is done for an outsider.
14 Suppose you loudly bless your neighbor early in the morning.
Then you might as well be cursing him.
15 A nagging wife is like the dripping
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm.
16 Stopping her is like trying to stop the wind.
It’s like trying to grab olive oil with your hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
18 A person who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit.
And a person who protects their master will be honored.
19 When you look into water, you see a likeness of your face.
When you look into your heart, you see what you are really like.
20 Death and the Grave are never satisfied.
People’s eyes are never satisfied either.
21 Fire tests silver, and heat tests gold.
But people are tested by the praise they receive.
22 Suppose you could grind a foolish person in a mill.
Suppose you could grind them as you would grind grain with a tool.
Even then you could not remove their foolishness from them.
23 Be sure you know how your flocks are doing.
Pay careful attention to your herds.
24 Riches don’t last forever.
And a crown is not secure for all time to come.
25 The hay is removed, and new growth appears.
The grass from the hills is gathered in.
26 Then your lambs will provide you with clothes.
And the money from selling your goats will buy you a field.
27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family.
It will also feed your female servants.
8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can’t make up your minds. 9 Be full of sorrow. Cry and weep. Change your laughter to mourning. Change your joy to sadness. 10 Be humble in front of the Lord. And he will lift you up.
11 My brothers and sisters, don’t speak against one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister speaks against the law. And anyone who judges another believer judges the law. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it. Instead, you are acting as if you were its judge. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. He is the God who is able to save life or destroy it. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Bragging About Tomorrow
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city. We will spend a year there. We will buy and sell and make money.” 14 You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while. Then it disappears. 15 Instead, you should say, “If it pleases the Lord, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you brag. You brag about the evil plans your pride produces. This kind of bragging is evil. 17 So suppose someone knows the good deeds they should do. But suppose they don’t do them. By not doing these good deeds, they sin.
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