Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 115

¹ Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy and loving-kindness and for the sake of Your truth and faithfulness!

² Why should the nations say, Where is now their God?

³ But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

⁴ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

⁵ They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

⁶ They have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not;

⁷ They have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither can they make a sound with their throats.

⁸ They who make idols are like them; so are all who trust in and lean on them.^(A)

⁹ O Israel, trust and take refuge in the Lord! [Lean on, rely on, and be confident in Him!] He is their Help and their Shield.

¹⁰ O house of Aaron [the priesthood], trust in and lean on the Lord! He is their Help and their Shield.

¹¹ You who [reverently] fear the Lord, trust in and lean on the Lord! He is their Help and their Shield.

¹² The Lord has been mindful of us, He will bless us: He will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron [the priesthood],

¹³ He will bless those who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord, both small and great.^(B)

¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.

¹⁵ May you be blessed of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth!

¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth has He given to the children of men.

¹⁷ The dead praise not the Lord, neither any who go down into silence.

¹⁸ But we will bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

²⁹ So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them in continual remembrance before the Lord.

³⁰ In the breastplate of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim [unspecified articles used when the high priest asked God’s counsel for all Israel]; they shall be upon Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord, and Aaron shall bear the judgment (rights, judicial decisions) of the Israelites upon his heart before the Lord continually.

³¹ Make the robe [to be worn beneath] the ephod all of blue.

³² There shall be a hole in the center of it [to slip over the head], with a binding of woven work around the hole, like the opening in a coat of mail or a garment, that it may not fray or tear.

³³ And you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] around about its skirts, with gold bells between them;

³⁴ A gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe.

³⁵ Aaron shall wear the robe when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes [alone] into the Holy of Holies before the Lord and when he comes out, lest he die there.

³⁶ And you shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, holy to the lord.^(A)

³⁷ You shall fasten it on the front of the turban with a blue cord.

³⁸ It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may take upon himself and bear [any] iniquity [connected with] the holy things which the Israelites shall give and dedicate; and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord [in the priest’s person].^(B)

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.

⁴ In every prayer of mine I always make my entreaty and petition for you all with joy (delight).

⁵ [I thank my God] for your fellowship (your ^[a]sympathetic cooperation and contributions and partnership) in advancing the good news (the Gospel) from the first day [you heard it] until now.

⁶ And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

⁷ It is right and appropriate for me to have this confidence and feel this way about you all, because ^[b]you have me in your heart and I hold you in my heart as partakers and sharers, one and all with me, of grace (God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing). [This is true] both when I am shut up in prison and when I am out in the defense and confirmation of the good news (the Gospel).

⁸ For God is my witness how I long for and ^[c]pursue you all with love, in the tender mercy of Christ Jesus [Himself]!

⁹ And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may ^[d]display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],

¹⁰ So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].

¹¹ May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [^[e]that His glory may be both manifested and recognized].