Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of Ascents.
128 (A)Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who (B)walks in His ways.
2 When you (C)eat the (D)fruit of the labor of your hands,
You will be happy and (E)it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a (F)fruitful vine
[a]Within your house,
Your children like (G)olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for so shall a man
Who fears the Lord be blessed.
Warnings and Instructions
27 (A)Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you (B)do not know what a day may bring.
2 Let (C)another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But (D)who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better is (E)open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.
6 Faithful are the (F)wounds of a friend,
But [a]deceitful are the (G)kisses of an enemy.
7 A satisfied [b]person [c]despises honey,
But to a hungry [d]person any bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a (H)bird that wanders from its nest,
So is a person who (I)wanders from his [e]home.
9 (J)Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
And a [f]person’s advice is sweet to his friend.
10 Do not abandon your (K)friend or (L)your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your disaster;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.
11 (M)Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
So that I may (N)reply to one who taunts me.
12 A prudent person sees evil and hides himself;
But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.
13 (O)Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger;
And for a foreign woman seize a pledge from him.
14 (P)One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be considered a curse to him.
15 A (Q)constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 He who would [g]restrain her [h]restrains the wind,
And [i]grasps oil with his right hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
So one person sharpens another.
18 One who tends the (R)fig tree will eat its fruit,
And one who (S)cares for his master will be honored.
19 As in water a face reflects the face,
So the heart of a person reflects the person.
20 [j](T)Sheol and [k]Abaddon are (U)never satisfied,
Nor are the (V)eyes of a person ever satisfied.
21 The (W)crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each (X)is tested by the praise accorded him.
22 Though you (Y)pound the fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
His foolishness still will not leave him.
23 (Z)Know well the [l]condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a (AA)crown endure to all generations.
25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are (AB)gathered in,
26 The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
27 And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your attendants.
8 (A)Come close to God and He will come close to you. (B)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (C)purify your hearts, you [a](D)double-minded. 9 (E)Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 (F)Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11 (G)Do not speak against one another, (H)brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or (I)judges his brother or sister, speaks against (J)the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not (K)a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one (L)Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is (M)able to save and to destroy; but (N)who are you, [b]judging your neighbor?
13 (O)Come now, you who say, “(P)Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 [c]Yet you do not know [d]what your life will be like tomorrow. (Q)For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. 15 [e]Instead, you ought to say, “(R)If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your [f]arrogance; (S)all such boasting is evil. 17 So (T)for one who knows the [g]right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.
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