Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 16[a]
A prayer[b] of David.
16 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you.[c]
2 I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord,
my only source of well-being.”[d]
3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,
and the leading officials I admired so much[e]—
4 their troubles multiply;
they desire other gods.[f]
I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods,[g]
nor will I make vows in the name of their gods.[h]
5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity;[i]
you make my future secure.[j]
6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields
or received a beautiful tract of land.[k]
7 I will praise[l] the Lord who[m] guides[n] me;
yes, during the night I reflect and learn.[o]
8 I constantly trust in the Lord;[p]
because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 So my heart rejoices
and I am happy;[q]
my life is safe.[r]
10 You will not abandon me[s] to Sheol;[t]
you will not allow your faithful follower[u] to see[v] the Pit.[w]
11 You lead me in[x] the path of life.[y]
I experience absolute joy in your presence;[z]
you always give me sheer delight.[aa]
The Maidens to The Beloved:
9 Why is your beloved better than others,[a]
O most beautiful of women?
Why is your beloved better than others,
that you would admonish us in this manner?
The Beloved to the Maidens:
10 My beloved[b] is dazzling[c] and ruddy;[d]
he stands out[e] in comparison to[f] all other men.[g]
11 His head is like the purest gold.[h]
His hair is curly[i]—black like a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water,
washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like garden beds full of balsam trees[j] yielding[k] perfume.
His lips are like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.
14 His arms are like rods of gold set with chrysolite.
His abdomen[l] is like polished ivory inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth is very sweet;[m]
he is totally desirable.[n]
This is my beloved!
This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!
The Lost Lover Found
The Maidens to the Beloved:
6 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned?
Tell us,[o] that we may seek him with you.[p]
The Beloved to the Maidens:
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,[q]
to the flowerbeds of balsam spices,[r]
to graze[s] in the gardens,
and to gather lilies.[t]
Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession
The Beloved about Her Lover:
Christ’s Resurrection
15 Now I want to make clear for you,[a] brothers and sisters,[b] the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as of first importance[c] what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised[d] on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[e] then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters[f] at one time, most of whom are still alive,[g] though some have fallen asleep.[h] 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time,[i] he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.
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