Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 91[a]
Security under God’s Protection
1 You who abide in the shelter of the Most High,[b]
who rest in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 say to the Lord, “You are my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I place my trust.”
3 He will rescue you from the snare of the fowler[c]
and from virulent pestilence.
4 With his feathers he will shelter you,[d]
and you will take refuge under his wings;
his faithfulness serves as a protective shield.
5 You will not fear the terror by night[e]
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the plague[f] that lays waste at midday.
14 [a]“Because he loves me, I will deliver him,
I will raise high[b] the one who acknowledges my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer,
and I will be with him in time of distress;
I will rescue him and cause him to be honored.[c]
16 I will reward him with a long life
and show him my salvation.”[d]
23 The Lord asks:
Am I a God only when I am near at hand,
but not when I am far away?
24 Can someone hide in a secret place
so that I cannot see him?
Do I not fill heaven and earth?
25 I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. “I have had a dream,” they cry out. “I have had a dream.” 26 How much longer must we endure prophets who prophesy lies and proclaim their own delusions? 27 By means of the dreams that they relate to one another, they believe that they will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name and replaced it with Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream relate his dream, but let the one who receives my word deliver it truthfully.
What does straw have in common with wheat?
asks the Lord.
29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord,
like a hammer shattering a rock?
30 Therefore, says the Lord, I have set myself in opposition to the prophets who steal my words from one another. 31 I am against those prophets who concoct their own prophecies and then assert, “Thus says the Lord.” 32 I am against those prophets who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and then recount them, thereby leading my people astray with their lies and reckless bragging. They have not received any commission from me, and so they are of no benefit to this people in any way, says the Lord.
Chapter 2
Christ Brought Us from Death to Life.[a] 1 You formerly were dead as a result of your transgressions and sins, 2 which were your way of life in this worldly era,[b] obeying the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work among the children of rebellion. 3 We too were all numbered among them at one time. We were ruled by our sinful nature, succumbing to the temptations of the flesh and desires. And like all others, we were by nature children of wrath.
4 But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, 5 he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. 6 He raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavens, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace evidenced by his mercy to us in Christ Jesus.
8 [c]For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you but from the gift of God. 9 It does not come from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for a life of good works that God had prepared for us to do.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.