Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of Ascents.
128 (A)How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who (B)walks in His ways.
2 When you shall (C)eat of the [a](D)fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and (E)it will be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a (F)fruitful vine
[b]Within your house,
Your children like (G)olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.
Warnings and Instructions
27 (A)Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you (B)do not know what a day may bring forth.
2 Let (C)another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But (D)who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better is (E)open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.
6 Faithful are the (F)wounds of a friend,
But [a]deceitful are the (G)kisses of an enemy.
7 A sated [b]man [c]loathes honey,
But to a famished [d]man any bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a (H)bird that wanders from her nest,
So is a man who (I)wanders from his [e]home.
9 (J)Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a [f]man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
10 Do not forsake your own (K)friend or (L)your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.
11 (M)Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
That I may (N)reply to him who reproaches me.
12 A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,
The [g]naive proceed and pay the penalty.
13 (O)Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for an [h]adulterous woman hold him in pledge.
14 (P)He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him.
15 A (Q)constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 He who would [i]restrain her [j]restrains the wind,
And [k]grasps oil with his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another.
18 He who tends the (R)fig tree will eat its fruit,
And he who (S)cares for his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.
20 [l](T)Sheol and [m]Abaddon are (U)never satisfied,
Nor are the (V)eyes of man ever satisfied.
21 The (W)crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each (X)is tested by the praise accorded him.
22 Though you (Y)pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
23 (Z)Know well the [n]condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a (AA)crown endure to all generations.
25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are (AB)gathered in,
26 The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
27 And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.
8 (A)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (B)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (C)purify your hearts, you (D)double-minded. 9 (E)Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (F)Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11 (G)Do not speak against one another, (H)brethren. He who speaks against a brother or (I)judges his brother, speaks against (J)the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not (K)a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one (L)Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is (M)able to save and to destroy; but (N)who are you who judge your neighbor?
13 (O)Come now, you who say, “(P)Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 [a]Yet you do not know [b]what your life will be like tomorrow. (Q)You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 [c]Instead, you ought to say, “(R)If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your [d]arrogance; (S)all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, (T)to one who knows the [e]right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.