Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
(A)A Praise of David.
145 I will [a]extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (B)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And (C)His greatness is [b]unsearchable.
4 (D)One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 [c]I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And [d]on Your wondrous works.
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall [e]utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.
8 (E)The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 (F)The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.
10 (G)All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 (H)Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all [f]generations.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall,
And (I)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 (J)The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And (K)You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
(L)And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 (M)The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (N)in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 (O)The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.
The Bridegroom Praises the Bride
The Beloved
4 Behold, (A)you are fair, my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes behind your veil.
Your hair is like a (B)flock of goats,
Going down from Mount Gilead.
2 (C)Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep
Which have come up from the washing,
Every one of which bears twins,
And none is [a]barren among them.
3 Your lips are like a strand of scarlet,
And your mouth is lovely.
(D)Your temples behind your veil
Are like a piece of pomegranate.
4 (E)Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built (F)for an armory,
On which hang a thousand [b]bucklers,
All shields of mighty men.
5 (G)Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle,
Which feed among the lilies.
6 (H)Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.
3 (A)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Gifts at Corinth
4 (B)I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him (C)in all [a]utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as (D)the testimony of Christ was confirmed [b]in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly (E)waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 (F)who will also confirm you to the end, (G)that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 (H)God is faithful, by whom you were called into (I)the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sectarianism Is Sin
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (J)that you all [c]speak the same thing, and that there be no [d]divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are [e]contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that (K)each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of (L)Apollos,” or “I am of (M)Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 (N)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized (O)none of you except (P)Crispus and (Q)Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of (R)Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, (S)not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.