Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 128
The Happy Home of the Faithful
A Song of Ascents.
1 Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways.(A)
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.(B)
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.(C)
4 Thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.(A)
2 Let another praise you and not your own mouth,
a stranger and not your own lips.(B)
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.(C)
4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.(D)
6 Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts,
but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
7 The sated appetite spurns honey,
but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.(E)
8 Like a bird that strays from its nest
is one who strays from home.
9 Perfume and incense make the heart glad,
but the soul is torn by trouble.[a]
10 Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent;
do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is nearby
than kindred who are far away.(F)
11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad,
so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.(G)
12 The clever see danger and hide,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.(H)
13 Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.[b](I)
14 Whoever blesses a neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
15 A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a contentious wife are alike;(J)
16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp oil in the right hand.[c]
17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one person sharpens the wits[d] of another.
18 Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and anyone who takes care of a master will be honored.(K)
19 Just as water reflects the face,
so one human heart reflects another.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and human eyes are never satisfied.(L)
21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
so a person is tested[e] by being praised.(M)
22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
but the folly will not be driven out.(N)
23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
24 for riches do not last forever,
nor a crown for all generations.(O)
25 When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,(P)
26 the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field;
27 there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and nourishment for your female servants.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.(A) 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.(B)
Warning against Judging Another
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another speaks evil against the law and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.(C) 12 There is one lawgiver and judge[a] who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?(D)
Boasting about Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”(E) 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(F) 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”(G) 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it commits sin.(H)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.