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.
Reverence, Humility, and Contentment
5 [a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools, for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.[b](A) 2 [c]Never be rash with your mouth nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.(B)
3 For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.(C) 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it.(D) 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words and destroy the work of your hands?
7 With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words,[d] but fear God.(E)
8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and right, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.(F) 9 But all things considered, this is an advantage for a land: a king for a plowed field.[e]
10 The lover of money will not be satisfied with money, nor the lover of wealth with gain. This also is vanity.(G)
11 When goods increase, those who eat them increase, and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
12 Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not let them sleep.(H)
13 There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt,(I) 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. 15 As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil that they may carry away with their hands.(J) 16 This also is a grievous ill: just as they came, so shall they go, and what gain do they have from toiling for the wind?(K) 17 Besides, all their days they eat in darkness, in much anger and sickness and resentment.(L)
18 This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us, for this is our lot.(M) 19 Likewise, all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God.(N) 20 For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.
Jesus Foretells His Death
21 Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”(A) 22 Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are from this world, I am not from this world.(B) 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”[a](C) 25 They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all?[b] 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”(D) 27 They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he[c] and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.(E) 29 And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.”(F) 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
True Disciples
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”(G) 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”(H)
34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.(I) 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.(J) 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham, yet you look for an opportunity to kill me because there is no place in you for my word. 38 I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”[d](K)
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.