Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

51 Unto the end, understanding for David,

² When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul David went to the house of Achimelech. [1 Kings 22.]

³ Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity?

⁴ All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice: as a sharp razor, thou hast wrought deceit.

⁵ Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness.

⁶ Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue.

⁷ Therefore will God destroy thee for ever: he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy dwelling place: and thy root out of the land of the living.

⁸ The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say:

⁹ Behold the man that made not God his helper: But trusted in the abundance of his riches: and prevailed in his vanity.

¹⁰ But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever.

¹¹ I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for it is good in the sight of thy saints.

¹⁰ And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, for which he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and shall have given thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build,

¹¹ Houses full of riches, which thou didst not set up, cisterns which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards, which thou didst not plant,

¹² And thou shalt have eaten and be full:

¹³ Take heed diligently lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear by his name.

¹⁴ You shall not go after the strange gods of all the nations, that are round about you:

¹⁵ Because the Lord thy God is a jealous God in the midst of thee: lest at any time the wrath of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and take thee away from the face of the earth.

¹⁶ Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedst him in the place of temptation.

¹⁷ Keep the precepts of the Lord thy God, and the testimonies and ceremonies which he hath commanded thee.

¹⁸ And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with thee: and going in thou mayst possess the goodly land, concerning which the Lord swore to thy fathers,

¹⁹ That he would destroy all thy enemies before thee, as he hath spoken.

²⁰ And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying: What mean these testimonies, and ceremonies and judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded us?

²¹ Thou shalt say to him: We were bondmen of Pharao in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.

²² And he wrought signs and wonders great and very grievous in Egypt against Pharao, and all his house, in our sight,

²³ And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in and give us the land, concerning which he swore to our fathers.

²⁴ And the Lord commanded that we should do all these ordinances, and should fear the Lord our God, that it might be well with us all the days of our life, as it is at this day.

²⁵ And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and do all his precepts before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.

¹⁷ To no man rendering evil for evil. Providing good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men.

¹⁸ If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men.

¹⁹ Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written: Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.

²⁰ But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. For, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.

²¹ Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.

⁸ Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law.

⁹ For Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness: Thou shalt not covet: and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

¹⁰ The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.