Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3];
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and ·praise [bless] his name;
every day ·tell [announce the good news] ·how he saves us [L of his salvation/victory].
3 Tell the nations of his glory [C his manifest presence];
tell all peoples the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised ·at all times [or with vigor].
He ·should be honored [is awesome; should be feared] more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are ·only idols [or worthless],
but the Lord made the heavens [Gen. 1].
6 The Lord has ·glory [splendor] and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his ·Temple [sanctuary; L Holy Place].
7 ·Praise [L Ascribe to] the Lord, all ·nations on earth [L families of peoples];
·praise the Lord’s [L ascribe to the Lord] glory and power.
8 ·Praise the glory of the Lord’s [L Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his] name.
Bring an ·offering [grain/gift/tribute sacrifice; Lev. 2:1] and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 ·Worship [Bow down to] the Lord ·because he is holy [L in the splendor of his holiness].
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 93:1; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; Rev. 19:6].”
The earth is ·set [established], and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the ·skies [heavens] rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it ·shout [thunder; roar].
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world;
he will judge the world with ·fairness [righteousness]
and the peoples with ·truth [faithfulness; 98:9].
There Is a Time for Everything
3 There is a ·time [season] for everything,
and ·everything [every activity] ·on earth [L under heaven] has its ·special season [time].
2 There is a time to be born
and a time to die.
There is a time to plant
and a time to ·pull up plants [uproot what has been planted].
3 There is a time to kill
and a time to heal.
There is a time to ·destroy [tear down]
and a time to build.
4 There is a time to cry
and a time to laugh.
There is a time to ·be sad [mourn]
and a time to dance.
5 There is a time to throw away stones
and a time to gather them.
There is a time to ·hug [embrace]
and a time ·not to hug [to refrain from embracing].
6 There is a time to ·look for something [seek]
and a time to ·stop looking for it [L give up as lost; or lose].
There is a time to keep things
and a time to throw things away.
7 There is a time to tear apart
and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent
and a time to speak.
8 There is a time to love
and a time to hate.
There is a time for war
and a time for peace.
17 Every good ·action [or act of giving] and every perfect gift ·is from God [L comes from above]. These good gifts come down from the ·Creator of the sun, moon, and stars [L the father of lights; C referring to God’s creation of the heavenly bodies (Gen. 1:14–19; Ps. 136:7–9; Jer. 31:35)], who does not change like their shifting shadows. 18 God ·decided [chose; willed] to give us ·life [birth] through the ·word of truth [true message] so we might be ·the most important [or the first of many; L a kind of firstfruits; C firstfruits were the first crops to be harvested and guaranteed the coming harvest; Ex. 34:22; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rev. 14:4] of all ·the things he made [or his creatures].
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