Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 119
The Great Psalm on the Law of the Lord[a]
Aleph: Blessed Are the Blameless
1 How blessed are those who are blameless in their way,
who walk in the law[b] of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who keep[c] his testimonies.
With all their heart they seek him.
3 Indeed, they do no wrong.
They walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded that your precepts[d] be kept completely.
5 If only my ways were unwavering in keeping your statutes![e]
6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
7 I will thank you with an upright heart
as I learn your righteous judgments.[f]
8 I will keep your statutes.
Do not abandon me completely.
34 The land will then enjoy its sabbaths during all the days of its desolation, while you are in the land of your enemies. Yes, the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.[a] 35 All the days when it is desolate it will rest, because it did not rest on your sabbaths when you lived there. 36 As for those of you who survive, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that the sound of a scattered leaf will scare them away. They will flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they will fall though no one is pursuing them. 37 Each of them will stumble over his brother, as if from a sword, even though no one is pursuing him. You will have no power to stand against your enemies, 38 and you will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will devour you. 39 Those of you who survive will rot away in the lands of your enemies because of their guilt. They will rot away because of the guilt of their ancestors. 40 They will confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors because of the unfaithfulness that they committed against me, and also because they remained hostile to me. 41 So I in turn became hostile to them, and I brought them into the land of their enemies. So their uncircumcised hearts will then be humbled, and they will then accept the punishment for their guilt.
42 Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham as well. I will remember the land.
43 The land will be empty of them, so that in its desolation it may enjoy its sabbaths without them, while they suffer punishment for their guilt, because, and only because, they rejected my ordinances and they detested my statutes with all their heart.
44 Yet, for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, and I will not detest them so much that I exterminate them. I will not annul my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 I will remember in their favor the covenant to be their God that I made with their first generation, whom I freed from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations. I am the Lord.
46 These are the regulations, the ordinances, and the laws[b] that the Lord instituted between himself and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai through Moses.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one that you have had since the beginning. The old command is the message you heard. 8 At the same time, the command I am writing is new—it is true in Jesus[a] and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and nothing causes him to stumble. 11 The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven because of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the Evil One.
14 I have written to you, little children,
because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God remains in you,
and you have overcome the Evil One.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, boasting about material possessions—is not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.