Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁶ I call to you, God,
    and you answer me.
Listen to me now,
    and hear what I say.
⁷ Your love is wonderful.
    By your power you save those who trust you
    from their enemies.
⁸ Protect me as you would protect your own eye.
    Hide me under the shadow of your wings.
⁹ Keep me from the wicked who attack me,
    from my enemies who surround me.
¹⁰ They are selfish
    and brag about themselves.
¹¹ They have chased me until they have surrounded me.
    They plan to throw me to the ground.
¹² They are like lions ready to kill;
    like lions, they sit in hiding.

¹³ Lord, rise up, face the enemy, and throw them down.
    Save me from the wicked with your sword.
¹⁴ Lord, save me by your power
    from those whose reward is in this life.
They have plenty of food.
    They have many sons
    and leave much money to their children.

¹⁵ Because I have lived right, I will see your face.
    When I wake up, I will see your likeness and be satisfied.

“A curse is placed on those who trust other people,
    who depend on humans for strength,
    who have stopped trusting the Lord.
⁶ They are like a bush in a desert
    that grows in a land where no one lives,
    a hot and dry land with bad soil.
They don’t know about the good things God can give.

⁷ “But the person who trusts in the Lord will be blessed.
    The Lord will show him that he can be trusted.
⁸ He will be strong, like a tree planted near water
    that sends its roots by a stream.
It is not afraid when the days are hot;
    its leaves are always green.
It does not worry in a year when no rain comes;
    it always produces fruit.

⁹ “More than anything else, a person’s mind is evil
    and cannot be healed.
    Who can understand it?
¹⁰ But I, the Lord, look into a person’s heart
    and test the mind.
So I can decide what each one deserves;
    I can give each one the right payment for what he does.”

¹¹ Like a bird hatching an egg it did not lay,
    so are the people who get rich by cheating.
When their lives are half finished, they will lose their riches.
    At the end of their lives, it will be clear they were fools.

¹² From the beginning, our Temple has been honored
    as a glorious throne for God.
¹³ Lord, hope of Israel,
    those who leave you will be shamed.
People who quit following the Lord will be like a name written in the dust,
    because they have left the Lord, the spring of living water.

¹⁶ Lord, I didn’t run away from being the shepherd you wanted.
    I didn’t want the terrible day to come.
You know everything I have said;
    you see all that is happening.
¹⁷ Don’t be a terror to me.
    I run to you for safety in times of trouble.
¹⁸ Make those who are hurting me be ashamed,
    but don’t bring shame to me.
Let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring the day of disaster on my enemies.
    Destroy them, and destroy them again.