Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK I
(Psalms 1–41)
Psalm 1
1 The truly happy person
doesn’t follow wicked advice,
doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
2 Instead of doing those things,
these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
3 They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
which bears fruit at just the right time
and whose leaves don’t fade.
Whatever they do succeeds.
4 That’s not true for the wicked!
They are like dust that the wind blows away.
5 And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
neither will sinners
in the assembly of the righteous.
6 The Lord is intimately acquainted
with the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is destroyed.
20 Lift up your eyes
and see who is approaching from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when he appoints someone as head over you:
your defenders, your trusted allies?[a]
Won’t pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?
22 And when you ask yourself,
Why have all these things happened to me?
it is because of your many sins
that you have been stripped and violated.
23 Can a Cushite change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
when doing evil comes so naturally.
24 So I will scatter you[b] like straw
that is blown away by the desert winds.
25 This is the future
that I have prepared for you,
declares the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 I myself will pull up your skirt over your face
and expose your shame.
27 I have seen your adultery and lust,
your disgusting idols and shameless prostitution
on the hills and in the fields.
How terrible for you, Jerusalem!
How long will you remain dirty?
17 Since you call upon a Father who judges all people according to their actions without favoritism, you should conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your dwelling in a strange land. 18 Live in this way, knowing that you were not liberated by perishable things like silver or gold from the empty lifestyle you inherited from your ancestors. 19 Instead, you were liberated by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a flawless, spotless lamb. 20 Christ was chosen before the creation of the world, but was only revealed at the end of time. This was done for you, 21 who through Christ are faithful to the God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. So now, your faith and hope should rest in God.
22 As you set yourselves apart by your obedience to the truth so that you might have genuine affection for your fellow believers, love each other deeply and earnestly. 23 Do this because you have been given new birth—not from the type of seed that decays but from seed that doesn’t. This seed is God’s life-giving and enduring word. 24 Thus,
All human life on the earth is like grass,
and all human glory is like a flower in a field.
The grass dries up and its flower falls off,
25 but the Lord’s word endures forever.[a]
This is the word that was proclaimed to you as good news.
Your identity as believers
2 Therefore, get rid of all ill will and all deceit, pretense, envy, and slander.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible