Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessings of Those Who Fear the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
128 Blessed (A)is every one who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
2 (B)When you eat the [a]labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be (C)well with you.
3 Your wife shall be (D)like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your (E)children (F)like olive plants
All around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.
5 (G)The Lord bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
6 Yes, may you (H)see your children’s children.
(I)Peace be upon Israel!
My Son, Be Wise
27 Do(A) not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
2 (B)Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.
4 Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But (C)who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 (D)Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are (E)deceitful.
7 A satisfied soul [a]loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.
9 Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by [b]hearty counsel.
10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
(F)Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
(G)That I may answer him who reproaches me.
12 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are (H)punished.
13 Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.
14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It will be counted a curse to him.
15 A (I)continual dripping on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 Whoever [c]restrains her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
18 (J)Whoever [d]keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.
21 (M)The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him.
22 (N)Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
23 Be diligent to know the state of your (O)flocks,
And attend to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
25 (P)When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
26 The lambs will provide your clothing,
And the goats the price of a field;
27 You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.
8 (A)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (B)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (C)purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 (D)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (E)Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Do Not Judge a Brother
11 (F)Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother (G)and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one [a]Lawgiver, (H)who is able to save and to destroy. (I)Who[b] are you to judge [c]another?
Do Not Boast About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [d]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? (J)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, (K)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. (L)All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, (M)to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.