Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 128[a]
Happy Home of the Righteous
1 [b]A song of ascents.
Blessed[c] are all those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labors;
you will enjoy both blessings and prosperity.[d]
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[e]
within your house;
your sons will be like shoots of an olive tree
around your table.
4 Such are the blessings that will be bestowed
on the man who fears the Lord.
5 [f]May the Lord bless you from Zion[g]
all the days of your life.
May you rejoice in the prosperity of Jerusalem
6 and live to see your children’s children.[h]
Peace be upon Israel.
A Renewed World[a]
17 For behold, I am about to create
new heavens and a new earth.
The past will not be remembered
or ever again called to mind.
18 Rather, rejoice and be filled with delight forever
at what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a delight
and her people as a cause of joy.
19 I will take delight in Jerusalem
and rejoice in my people.
No more will be heard there
the sound of weeping or the cries of distress.
20 Never again will an infant be there
who dies after a few days of life
or an old man who fails to live his allotted days.
For one who dies at the age of one hundred
will be regarded as a youth,
while one who fails to achieve a hundred years
will be considered accursed.[b]
21 They will live in the houses they have built;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build houses for others to dwell in
or plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be
like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
or bear children destined for calamity.
For they will be offspring blessed by the Lord,
as will their descendants after them.
24 Even before they call out to me,
I will answer;
while they are still speaking,
I will respond.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but as for the serpent,
its food will be dust.
No harm or destruction will be done
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
6 [a]In the same way, David speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God attributes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are blotted out.
8 Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.”
Justified before Being Circumcised.[b] 9 Is this blessedness granted only to the circumcised, or does it apply to the uncircumcised as well? We have asserted that Abraham’s faith “was credited to him as righteousness.” 10 How was it credited? Was it when he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not when he was circumcised, but when he was uncircumcised.
11 Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. In this way, he was the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness credited to them. 12 Therefore, he is the father of the circumcised who have not only received circumcision but also follow that path of faith traversed by Abraham before he was circumcised.
13 Justified Apart from the Law.[c] It was not through the Law that Abraham and his descendants received the promise that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness of faith.
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