Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessing on Those Who Fear God
Psalm 128
1 A Song of Ascents.
Happy is everyone in awe of Adonai,
who walks in His ways,
2 for you will eat the labor of your hands.
You will be blessed
and it will be good for you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house.
Your children will be like olive saplings around your table.
4 Behold, thus will the man be blessed
who fears Adonai.
5 May Adonai bless you out of Zion,
and may you see Jerusalem in prosperity
all the days of your life,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children.
Shalom be upon Israel!
Do Not Boast
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.[a]
2 Let another praise you and not your own mouth,
a stranger and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy and sand a burden,
but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
but excessive the kisses of an enemy.
7 One who is full loathes honeycomb,
but to one who is hungry every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man that wanders from his home.
Iron Sharpens Iron
9 As ointment and perfume gladden the heart,
so the sweetness of one’s friend comes from his sincere counsel.
10 Do not forsake your friend, or your father’s friend,
nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster—
better a neighbor nearby than a brother far off.
11 Be wise, my son, make my heart glad,
so I may answer anyone who taunts me.
12 The prudent see danger and hide,
but the naïve keep going and pay the penalty.
13 Take a man’s garment, who puts up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge, as security for a seductive woman.
14 If someone blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.
15 Continual dripping on a day of steady rain
and a contentious wife are alike—
16 hiding her is like hiding the wind or grasping oil with the right hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so a person sharpens the countenance of his friend.
18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
whoever takes care of his master will be honored.
19 As water reflects the face,
so a person’s heart reflects the person.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and neither are the eyes of man.
21 A crucible is for silver and a furnace is for gold,
but a person is proved by the praise he receives.
22 Even if you pound the fool along with the grain in a mortar with a pestle,
his foolishness would never leave him.
23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
pay attention to your herds,
24 for riches are not forever,
nor a crown from generation to generation.
25 When hay is removed and grass appears,
and grain from the hills is gathered in,
26 lambs will provide you with clothing,
and goats with the price of a field.
27 There will be enough goats’ milk for food
and food for your household,
and sustenance for your maidservants.
8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded! [a] 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of Adonai, and He shall lift you up. [b] 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the Torah and judges the Torah. But if you judge the Torah, you are not a doer of the Torah, but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge[c]—the One who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judges your neighbor?
If the Lord Wills, We Will
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes. [d] 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore whoever knows the right thing to do and does not do it—for him it is sin.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.