Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

5 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation.

² Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto Thee will I pray.

³ My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and will look up.

⁴ For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with Thee.

⁵ The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight; Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

⁶ Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies; the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

⁷ But as for me, I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy, and in Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple.

⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make Thy way straight before my face.

⁹ For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is exceeding wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue.

¹⁰ Destroy Thou them, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee.

¹¹ But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice; let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them; let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee.

¹² For Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt Thou compass him about as with a shield.

¹⁸ “Nevertheless in those days,” saith the Lord, “I will not make a full end with you.

¹⁹ And it shall come to pass when ye shall say, ‘Why doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us?’ Then shalt thou answer them, ‘As ye have forsaken Me and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

²⁰ “Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying:

²¹ Hear now this, O foolish people and without understanding, who have eyes and see not, who have ears and hear not:

²² Fear ye not Me?” saith the Lord. “Will ye not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

²³ But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone.

²⁴ Neither say they in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the Lord our God, who giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season; He reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’

²⁵ Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you.

²⁶ For among My people are found wicked men; they lie in wait as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

²⁷ As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit; therefore they have become great and have waxed rich.

²⁸ They have waxed fat, they shine; yea, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

²⁹ Shall I not visit for these things?” saith the Lord. “Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

³⁰ “An astonishing and horrible thing is committed in the land:

³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof?

¹² that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His Kingdom and glory.

¹⁴ For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God in Judea which are in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered like things from your own countrymen, even as they have from the Jews,

¹⁵ who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us. They please not God and are contrary to all men,

¹⁶ forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, thus heaping up their sins always. But the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost!

¹⁷ But we, brethren, being taken away from you for a short time (in presence, but not in heart), endeavored the more abundantly and with great desire to see your face.

¹⁸ Therefore we would have come unto you — even I, Paul, time and again — but Satan hindered us.

¹⁹ For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?

²⁰ For ye are our glory and joy.