Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
39 (0) For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:
2 (1) I said, “I will watch how I behave,
so that I won’t sin with my tongue;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
whenever the wicked confront me.”
3 (2) I was silent, said nothing, not even good;
but my pain kept being stirred up.
4 (3) My heart grew hot within me;
whenever I thought of it, the fire burned.
Then, [at last,] I let my tongue speak:
5 (4) “Make me grasp, Adonai, what my end must be,
what it means that my days are numbered;
let me know what a transient creature I am.
6 (5) You have made my days like handbreadths;
for you, the length of my life is like nothing.”
Yes, everyone, no matter how firmly he stands,
is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
7 (6) Humans go about like shadows;
their turmoil is all for nothing.
They accumulate wealth, not knowing
who will enjoy its benefits.
8 (7) Now, Adonai, what am I waiting for?
You are my only hope.
9 (8) Rescue me from all my transgressions;
don’t make me the butt of fools.
10 (9) I am silent, I keep my mouth shut,
because it is you who have done it.
11 (10) Stop raining blows on me;
the pounding of your fist is wearing me down.
12 (11) With rebukes you discipline people for their guilt;
like a moth, you destroy what makes them attractive;
yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
13 (12) Hear my prayer, Adonai, listen to my cry,
don’t be deaf to my weeping;
for with you, I am just a traveler
passing through, like all my ancestors.
14 (13) Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and cease to exist.
17 Moshe sent them to reconnoiter the land of Kena‘an, instructing them, “Go on up to the Negev and into the hills, 18 and see what the land is like. Notice the people living there, whether they are strong or weak, few or many; 19 and what kind of country they live in, whether it is good or bad; and what kind of cities they live in, open or fortified. 20 See whether the land is fertile or unproductive and whether there is wood in it or not. Finally, be bold enough to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”
When they left it was the season for the first grapes to ripen. (ii) 21 They went up and reconnoitered the land from the Tzin Desert to Rechov near the entrance to Hamat. 22 They went up into the Negev and arrived at Hevron; Achiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the ‘Anakim, lived there. (Hevron was built seven years before Tzo‘an in Egypt.) 23 They came to the Eshkol Valley; and there they cut off a branch bearing one cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two of them; they also took pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol [cluster], because of the cluster which the people of Isra’el cut down there.
25 Forty days later, they returned from reconnoitering the land 26 and went to Moshe, Aharon and the entire community of the people of Isra’el at Kadesh in the Pa’ran Desert, where they brought back word to them and to the entire community and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 What they told him was this: “We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey — here is its fruit!
18 So he went on to say, “What is the Kingdom of God like? With what will we compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds flying about nested in its branches.”
20 Again he said, “With what will I compare the Kingdom of God? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with a bushel of flour, then waited until the whole batch of dough rose.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.