Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 139
The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, You have searched me and known me.(A)
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.(B)
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.(C)
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.(D)
5 You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.(E)
6 This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.(F)
13 For it was You who created my inward parts;[a]
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.(A)
14 I will praise You
because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.[b][c]
Your works are wonderful,
and I know this very well.(B)
15 My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.(C)
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.(D)
14 “However, take note! The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’(A) 15 but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north(B) and from all the other lands where He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.(C)
Punishment of Exile
16 “I am about to send for many fishermen”(D)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, 17 for My gaze takes in all their ways.(E) They are not concealed from Me, and their guilt is not hidden from My sight. 18 I will first repay them double for their guilt(F) and sin because they have polluted My land. They have filled My inheritance with the lifelessness of their detestable and abhorrent idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in a time of distress,(G)
the nations will come to You
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our fathers inherited only lies,
worthless idols(H) of no benefit at all.”
20 Can one make gods for himself?
But they are not gods.(I)
21 “Therefore, I am about to inform them,
and this time I will make them know
My power and My might;
then they will know that My name is Yahweh.”(J)
The Persistent Sin of Judah
17 The sin of Judah is written
with an iron stylus.(K)
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts(L)
and on the horns of their[a] altars,
2 while their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills—
3 My mountains in the countryside.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder
because of the sin of your high places[b]
in all your borders.(M)
4 You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance
that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know,(N)
for you have set My anger on fire;(O)
it will burn forever.
Christian Greetings
7 Tychicus,(A) our dearly loved brother, faithful(B) servant, and fellow slave in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are[a] and so that he may encourage(C) your hearts.(D) 9 He is with Onesimus,(E) a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, as does Mark,(F) Barnabas’s(G) cousin (concerning whom you have received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These alone of the circumcision are my coworkers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras,(H) who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always contending(I) for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured[b] in everything God wills.(J) 13 For I testify about him that he works hard[c](K) for you, for those in Laodicea,(L) and for those in Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas(M) greet you. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her home.(N) 16 When this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And tell Archippus,(O) “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.”(P)
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