Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This is a song that David wrote to praise God.
An alphabet of praise[a]
145 Always I will praise you, my God and my king,
and I will say how great you are!
2 Because you are good, I will praise you every day.
Yes, I will always praise your name.
3 Clearly the Lord is great!
He is so great that we cannot understand it.
4 Down from father to son, people will praise you.
They will tell each other about the powerful things that you have done.
5 Everyone will speak about your glory and authority.
I also will think carefully about your great miracles.
6 Famous are the powerful things that you have done.
People will talk about them.
I also will speak about the great things that you do.
7 Good things are what everybody will remember about you.
They will sing about your justice.
8 How very kind the Lord is!
He is very patient and his faithful love continues.
9 It is the Lord who takes care of everybody.
He is kind to everything that he has made.
10 Join together to thank the Lord!
Everything that he has made will praise him.
Your own people will praise you, Lord!
11 King is who you are and your kingdom is great!
People will speak about your royal authority.
12 Let everyone agree that you do great things!
Let them say that you rule with great authority.
13 Many years your kingdom will remain, even for ever.
You will always rule your people and their descendants.
Nothing that the Lord promises is false.
He is kind in everything that he does.[b]
14 Often people fall, but the Lord lifts them up.
He helps everyone who has trouble.
15 People look to you for help.
You give them food when they need it.
16 Ready to help, you open your hand.
You give to every living thing the good things that they want.
17 So the Lord is fair in all that he does.
He always shows how much he loves us.
18 The Lord is ready to help everyone who asks him.
He is near to everyone who prays honestly.
19 Very kindly he gives his own people the things that they need.
He saves them when they call to him for help.
20 Whoever loves the Lord, he keeps safe.
But he destroys wicked people.
21 Yes, I will praise the Lord!
Everyone who lives should praise his holy name for ever!
A wedding night
9 I love you so much that I never want to leave you,
my sister and my bride.[a]
When you looked at me only once
and I saw one jewel in your necklace,
I knew that I could never leave you.
10 Your love for me is wonderful,
my sister and my bride.
I enjoy your love even more than I enjoy wine.
Your perfume has a smell
that is more lovely than any spice!
11 Your lips taste very sweet to me, my bride.
They taste like honey that falls from the honeycomb.
Milk and honey are under your tongue.
The smell of your clothes
is like the cedar trees of Lebanon.
12 My sister and my bride, you are like a garden for me
that is locked to other men.
You are like a spring or a fountain
that other people may not drink water from.
13 Your body is like a special garden.
It is full of pomegranate trees with their sweet fruit.
There are wonderful fruits to enjoy.
There are also henna and nard.
14 There are nard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon
and many different spices.
There are myrrh, aloes
and all the best spices.[b]
15 You are like a spring of water in a garden.
You are like a well that has fresh water.
The water runs down from Lebanon's mountains.
The young woman:
16 Wake up, north wind! Come now, south wind!
Blow on my garden!
Make the sweet smell of its spices move in the air.
May my lover come into his garden now!
Let him taste its wonderful fruits!
The young man:
5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride.
I have taken my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey.
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
The writer:
Eat, friends, and drink, you who love each other!
Drink until you can drink no more![c]
33 Then the Jewish leaders said to Jesus: ‘The disciples of John the Baptist often choose to fast for a time. Then they can pray to God a lot. The disciples of the Pharisees also do that. But your disciples never do that. They continue to eat and drink every day.’[a]
34 Jesus answered them, ‘When a man marries a wife, you cannot stop his friends from eating. They will continue to eat while he is with them. 35 But there will be a time when people take that man away from his friends. Then they will decide to fast.’[b]
36 Jesus told them this story: ‘Nobody tears a piece of cloth from a new coat to mend an old coat. If he does that, he will have torn the new coat. Also, the piece of cloth from the new coat will not look the same as the old coat.[c]
37 And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins.[d] If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will also spoil. 38 Instead, you must put new wine into new wineskins.
39 Also, nobody wants to drink new wine after he has drunk old wine. He will say, “The old wine is much better.” ’[e]
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