Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 145
A Psalm of Praise. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and His greatness is unfathomable.
4 One generation shall praise Your works to another
and shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honor of Your majesty
and of Your wondrous works.
6 They shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall abundantly declare the fame of Your great goodness
and shall sing of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger, and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and His compassion is over all His works.
10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
and Your godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and talk of Your power,
12 to make known to people His mighty acts,
and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon You,
and You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and loving in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all those who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord preserves all those who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all people bless His holy name
forever and ever.
9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have ravished my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How fair is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better than wine is your love,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip honey, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
and the fragrance of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a fountain sealed.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all the chief spices—
15 a garden fountain,
a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
The Woman
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
that its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
The Man
5 I come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh with my spice;
I eat my honeycomb with my honey;
I drink my wine with my milk.
Friends of the Man
Eat, friends!
Drink, and be drunk with love!
The Question About Fasting(A)
33 They said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”
34 He said to them, “Can you make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them a parable also: “No one sews a piece of a new material on an old one. Otherwise the new would tear, for the new piece does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the new wine will burst the wineskins, and it will be spilled, and the wineskins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new. For he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.