Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 128
A Song of Ascents.
1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in His ways.
2 For you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you will be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine
in your house,
your children like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Behold, this man shall be blessed
who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord shall bless you from Zion,
and may you see the welfare of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace upon Israel!
9 Two are better than one,
because there is a good reward for their labor together.
10 For if they fall,
then one will help up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls
and has no one to help him up.
11 Also if two lie down together, then they will keep warm;
but how can one keep warm by himself?
12 And if someone might overpower another by himself,
two together can withstand him.
A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
The Vanity of Status
13 Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished. 14 For out of prison he has come to reign, even though he was born poor in the kingdom. 15 Then I saw all those who live and walk under the sun, along with the next youth who will arise in the king’s place. 16 There is no end of all the people, to all who were before them. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and chasing the wind.
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures for the last days. 4 Indeed the wages that you kept back by fraud from the laborers who harvested your fields are crying, and the cries of those who harvested have entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been wayward. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed the righteous man who does not resist you.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.