Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me,(A) Lord,
and you know(B) me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;(C)
you perceive my thoughts(D) from afar.
3 You discern my going out(E) and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.(F)
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.(G)
5 You hem me in(H) behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,(I)
too lofty(J) for me to attain.
13 For you created my inmost being;(A)
you knit me together(B) in my mother’s womb.(C)
14 I praise you(D) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,(E)
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made(F) in the secret place,
when I was woven together(G) in the depths of the earth.(H)
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained(I) for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a](J) God!(K)
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,(L)
they would outnumber the grains of sand(M)—
when I awake,(N) I am still with you.
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;(A)
save(B) me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.(C)
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it now be fulfilled!”(D)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips(E) is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror(F) to me;
you are my refuge(G) in the day of disaster.(H)
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.(I)
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[a] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.(J) 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem(K) who come through these gates.(L) 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath(M) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.(N) 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention;(O) they were stiff-necked(P) and would not listen or respond to discipline.(Q) 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy(R) by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne(S) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.(T) 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,(U) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey(V) me to keep the Sabbath(W) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire(X) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”(Y)
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law(A)—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[a](B)
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.(C) 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.(D) 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.(E)
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me,(F) and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.(G) 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”(H)
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