Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Protection and Prosperity
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.[a]
127 Unless Yahweh builds a house,
its builders labor at it in vain.
Unless Yahweh guards a city,
a guard watches in vain.
2 It is in vain for you who rise early and sit late,
eating the bread of anxious toil,
when thus he[b] provides[c] for his beloved in his sleep.[d]
3 Look, children[e] are the heritage[f] of Yahweh;
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children[g] of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.[h]
They shall not be put to shame
when they speak with enemies at the gate.
11 And all of the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who together[a] built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem. 12 And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah from the offspring that Yahweh will give to you from this young woman.”
The Lineage of King David
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive,[b] and she bore a son. 14 And the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahweh who today did not leave you without a redeemer![c] And may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be for you a restorer of life and a sustainer in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better for you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16 And Naomi took the child and she put him on her bosom and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
15 And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that, because[a] a death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions committed during the first covenant, those who are the called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a will, it is a necessity for the death of the one who made the will to be established. 17 For a will is in force concerning those who are dead, since it is never in force when the one who made the will is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was ratified without blood. 19 For when[b] every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves[c] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying,
“This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.”[d]
21 And likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the utensils of service with the blood. 22 Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 Therefore it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf,
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