Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³ Be kind to us, Lord. Be kind to us
    because we have been insulted.
⁴ We have suffered many insults from lazy people
    and much cruelty from the proud.

² “My troubled thoughts cause me to answer.
    I am very upset.
³ I hear you criticize, and I am insulted.
    But I understand how to answer you.

⁴ “You know how it has been for a long time.
    It has been this way since man was put on the earth.
⁵ The happiness of an evil person is very short.
    The joy of a person without God lasts only a moment.
⁶ His pride may be as high as the heavens.
    His head may touch the clouds.
⁷ But he will be gone forever, like his own dung.
    People who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
⁸ He will fly away like a dream.
    He will not be found again.
    He will be chased away like a vision in the night.
⁹ Those who saw him will not see him again.
    The place where he lived will see him no more.
¹⁰ His children will have to make up for how he mistreated the poor.
    He will have to give his wealth back with his own hands.
¹¹ He has the strength of his youth in his bones.
    But it will lie with him in the dust of death.