Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Happy Home
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
128 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] and ·obey him [L walk in his ways].
2 You will ·enjoy what you work for [L eat the labor of your hands],
and you will be ·blessed [happy] with ·good things [prosperity].
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine [C produce many children] in your house [Prov. 31:10–31].
Your children will be like olive branches [C bringing much good] around your table [Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10].
4 This is how the man who ·respects [fears] the Lord [Prov. 1:7]
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple];
may you ·enjoy [experience; L see] the ·good things [prosperity] of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
27 Don’t brag about tomorrow;
you don’t know what ·may happen then [L the day may bear/ bring forth].
2 Don’t praise yourself. Let ·someone else [another; a stranger] do it.
Let the praise come from a ·stranger [outsider] and not from your own mouth [Jer. 9:23–24; 1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17].
3 Stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but ·a complaining fool [or the irritation/frustration caused by a fool] is ·heavier [worse] than either.
4 Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood,
but no one can ·put up with [L stand in the face of] jealousy!
5 It is better to correct someone ·openly [publicly]
than to have love and ·not show [hide] it.
6 The ·slap [bruises] of a friend can be trusted to help you,
but the kisses of an enemy are ·nothing but lies [or dangerous; Matt. 26:48–50].
7 When you are ·full [sated], not even honey tastes good,
but when you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet.
8 A person who ·leaves [L wanders from] his home
is like a bird that ·leaves [L wanders from] its nest.
9 The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant,
and so is good advice from a friend.
10 Don’t ·forget [abandon] your friend or your parent’s friend.
Don’t always go to your ·family for help [brother] when trouble comes.
A neighbor close by is better than a ·family [brother] far away.
11 Be wise, my child, and make ·me [L my heart] happy.
Then I can respond to any insult.
12 The ·wise [prudent] see ·danger [evil; trouble] ahead and avoid it,
but fools ·keep going [go straight to it] and ·get into trouble [or are punished].
13 Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s loan,
and keep it until he pays what the ·stranger [L foreigner] owes.
14 If you loudly ·greet [bless] your neighbor early in the morning,
he will think of it as a curse.
15 A ·quarreling [contentious] wife is as bothersome
as a continual dripping on a rainy day.
16 ·Stopping [Controlling; Restraining] her is like ·stopping [controlling; restraining] the wind
or trying to grab oil in your hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so people ·can improve each other [sharpen their friends].
18 Whoever ·tends [protects] a fig tree gets to eat its fruit,
and whoever ·takes care of [guards] his master will receive honor.
19 As water reflects your face,
so ·your mind shows what kind of person you are [the heart reflects a person].
20 ·People will never stop dying and being destroyed [L Sheol/The grave and Abaddon/Destruction are never satisfied; Job 26:6],
and ·they will never stop wanting more than they have [L the eyes of people will never be satisfied].
21 A ·hot furnace tests silver and gold [crucible for silver and a furnace for gold],
and people ·are tested by the praise they receive [L in the presence of those who praise them].
22 Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
you couldn’t remove the foolishness.
23 Be sure you know how your sheep are doing,
and ·pay attention to the condition of [L set your heart on] your cattle.
24 ·Riches [Treasure] will not go on forever,
nor ·do governments go on [a crown/diadem] forever.
25 When the grass is gone and the new grass appears,
gather the ·grass [vegetation] from the hills.
26 Make clothes from the lambs’ wool,
and sell some goats ·to buy [L for the price of] a field.
27 There will be plenty of goat’s milk
to feed you and your ·family [L house]
and to make your ·servant [or young] girls healthy.
8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, ·clean sin out of your lives [L cleanse/purify your hands; C a metaphor for cleaning up your behavior]. ·You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time [L You double-minded ones], ·make your thinking pure [L purify your hearts; C a metaphor for cleaning up your interior life]. 9 ·Be sad [Lament], ·cry [mourn], and weep! Change your laughter into ·crying [mourning] and your joy into ·sadness [gloom; sorrow]. 10 Humble yourself in the Lord’s presence, and he will ·honor you [L exalt you; lift you up; 1 Pet. 5:6].
You Are Not the Judge
11 Brothers and sisters [C fellow believers], do not ·tell evil lies about [slander] each other [Lev. 19:16]. If you ·speak against [slander] your ·fellow believers [L a brother or sister] or judge them, you are judging and ·speaking against [slandering] the law [C because the law commanded love]. And when you are judging the law, you are no longer a ·follower [L doer] of the law. You have become a judge [C sitting in judgment over the law]. 12 ·God is the only [L There is one] ·Lawmaker [Lawgiver] and Judge. He is the only One who can save and destroy [Matt. 10:28]. ·So it is not right for you [L So who are you…?] to judge your neighbor [Lev. 19:18].
Let God Plan Your Life
13 ·Some of you say [L Come now, you who say], “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” 14 But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a ·mist [vapor; puff of smoke]. ·You can see it [It appears] for a short time, but then it ·goes away [vanishes; Prov. 27:1]. 15 ·So [or Instead] you should say, “If the Lord ·wants [wills; wishes], we will live and do this or that [Matt. 6:10].” 16 But now you are ·proud [arrogant; C probably referring to their plans for the future] and you brag [boast]. All of this bragging [boasting] is wrong [L evil; wicked; 3:14]. 17 [L Therefore] Anyone who knows the right thing to do, but does not do it, ·is sinning [L for him it is sin].
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