Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

To the Overcomer upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.

¹ ¶ 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; early will I present myself unto thee and wait.

⁴ For thou art not a God that loves wickedness; neither shall one who is evil dwell with thee.

⁵ The foolish (those who are governed by carnal thoughts or desires) shall not stand in thy sight; thou dost hate all workers of iniquity.

⁶ Thou shalt destroy those that speak lies: the LORD will abominate 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 I will 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 uprightness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out for the multitude of their rebellions; for they have rebelled against thee.

¹¹ And all those that put their trust in thee shall rejoice: they shall ever be in jubilee, for thou shalt cover them; and all that love thy name shall be joyful in thee.

¹² For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him 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 does the LORD our God do all these things unto us? Then thou shalt answer them, Like 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 heart, who have eyes and do not see; who have ears, and do not hear:

²² Do ye not fear me? saith the LORD; will ye not tremble at my presence, who placed the sand for the bound of the sea by an eternal order, which cannot be broken? Storms shall raise themselves up, yet they shall not prevail; their waves shall roar, yet they shall not pass over it.

²³ But this people have a false and rebellious heart; they turned and went.

²⁴ Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; he shall keep us with 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 were found wicked men: they lay in wait as he that sets snares; they set a trap of perdition to catch men.

²⁷ As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit; thus they became great and rich.

²⁸ They are become fat; they shine; yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they did not judge the cause, the cause of the fatherless; with all this they made themselves prosperous; and they did not judge the cause of the poor.

²⁹ Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

³⁰ A horrible and ugly thing is committed in the land:

³¹ The prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bore rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so. What will ye do in the end thereof?

¹³ ¶ For this cause also we thank God without ceasing, that having received from us the word to hear from God, ye received it not as the word of men, (but as it is in truth) the word of God, which effectually works in you that believe.

¹⁴ For ye, brethren, have been imitators in Christ Jesus of the congregations {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} of God which are in Judaea, for ye also have suffered like things of your own nation, even as they have of the Jews,

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

¹⁶ forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up the measure of their sins always, for the wrath of God has come upon them to the uttermost.

¹⁷ ¶ But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly with great desire to see your face.

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

¹⁹ For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Is it not you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

²⁰ For ye are our glory and joy.