Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
1 ¶ Halelu-JAH: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for praise is pleasant and beautiful.
2 The LORD, he who builds up Jerusalem; shall gather together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the broken hearted, and he binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars and calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord and of great power; his intelligence is infinite.
6 The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked down to the earth.
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares the rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He who gives the beast his food and to the sons of the ravens which cry unto him.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; nor does he take pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The LORD takes pleasure in those that fear him, in those that wait upon his mercy.
20 He has not dealt so with the other nations, which have not known his judgments. Halelu-JAH.
36 ¶ And Elihu added and said,
2 Wait for me a little, and I will teach thee; for I yet speak on God’s behalf.
3 I will take my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words are not lies; for I share perfect knowledge with thee.
5 ¶ Behold, God is mighty and does not despise; he is mighty in virtue of heart.
6 He shall not give life to the wicked; but to the poor he shall give their right.
7 He shall not withdraw his eyes from the righteous; but with kings he shall place them on the throne for ever, and they shall be exalted.
8 And if they were bound in fetters and captive in cords of affliction,
9 then he shall show them their work and that their rebellions prevailed.
10 He opens their ear to instruction and commands that they turn from iniquity.
11 If they hearken and serve him, they shall spend their days in goodness and their years in delight.
12 But if they do not hearken, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.
13 But the hypocrites in heart shall irritate him more; they shall not cry out when he binds them.
14 Their soul shall die in youth, and their life is among the male pagan cult prostitutes.
15 ¶ He shall deliver the poor from his poverty, and in affliction shall open their ears.
16 Likewise, he would have removed thee out of the mouth of anguish into a broad place where there is no distress and should have set thy table full of fatness.
17 But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked, against the judgment and the justice that sustain everything.
18 Therefore it is to be feared that he take thee away with a stroke, which cannot be avoided even with a great ransom.
19 Will he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.
20 Do not desire the night, when he cuts people off in their place.
21 Take heed, do not regard iniquity, to choose it rather than poverty.
22 Behold, God is exalted by his power; what teacher is like him?
23 Who has prescribed his way unto him? Or who shall say unto him, Thou hast wrought iniquity?
9 ¶ Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?
2 If I am not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 ¶ My answer to those that examine me is this,
4 Do we not have authority to eat and to drink?
5 Do we not have authority to bring with us a sister, a wife, as also the other apostles and as the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6 Do only Barnabas and I not have authority to forbear working?
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? or who feeds a flock and does not eat of the milk of the flock?
8 Do I say this only according to men? or does not the law say the same also?
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the grain. Does God take care for oxen?
10 Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that plows should plow in hope, and that he that threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap material things from you?
12 If others are partakers of this authority over you, why not us? Nevertheless we have not used this authority, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
13 Do ye not know that those who work with sacred things live of the things of the sanctuary? and those who serve at the altar partake of the altar?
14 Even so the Lord has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
15 ¶ But I have used none of these things, neither have I written these things that it should be so done unto me; for it were better for me to die than that anyone should make this my glory void.
16 For though I preach the gospel, I have no reason to glory, for it is an obligation laid upon me; for woe is me, if I do not preach the gospel!
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International