Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A special Davidic Psalm.[a]
Trust in the Face of Death
16 Keep me safe, God,
for I take refuge in you.
2 I told the Lord,
“You are my master,[b]
I have nothing good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints that are in the land,
they are noble, and all my delight is in them.
4 Those who hurry after another god[c] will have many sorrows;
I will not present[d] their drink offerings of blood,
nor will my lips speak[e] their names.
5 The Lord is my inheritance and my cup;
you support my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places for me;
truly, I have a beautiful heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
indeed, my conscience instructs[f] me during the night.
8 I have set the Lord before me continuously;
because he stands at my right hand, I will stand firm.[g]
9 Therefore, my heart is glad,
my whole being[h] rejoices,
and my body will dwell securely.
10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[i]
you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption.[j]
11 You cause me to know the path of life;
in your presence is joyful abundance,
at your right hand there are pleasures forever.
8 The voice of my beloved!
Look! He’s coming,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look, there he stands behind our wall,
looking through the windows,
gazing through the lattice.
The Lover
10 My beloved spoke to me:
“Get up, my darling, my beautiful one, and come on.
11 Look! Winter is past.
The rain is over and gone.
12 Blossoms have appeared in the land.
The season of songbirds[a] has arrived,
and cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree has produced its fruit,[b]
the grapevines have blossomed and exude their fragrance.
“Get up, my darling, my beautiful one, and come on.
14 My dove, in the hidden places of the rocks,
in the secret places of the cliffs,
show me your form, and let me hear your voice.
For your voice is pleasant,
and your shape is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes that destroy the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in bloom.”
Closing Exhortations
2 Devote yourselves to prayer. Be alert[a] and thankful when you pray. 3 At the same time also pray for us—that God would open before us a door for the word so that we may tell the secret about the Messiah,[b] for which I have been imprisoned. 4 May I reveal it as clearly as I should![c]
5 Behave wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of your time.
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