Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 36
Concerning the Rebelliousness of the Wicked
Heading
For the choir director. By the servant of the Lord. By David.
1 A declaration about the rebellion of the wicked is deep in my heart.[a]
The Arrogance of the Wicked
There is no dread of God before his eyes,
2 because he flatters himself in his own eyes
too much to notice his guilt and to hate it.
3 The words from his mouth are deception and deceit.
He has given up being wise and doing good.
4 He plots deception even on his bed.
He sets out on a path that is not good.
He does not reject wrong.
The Goodness of God
5 Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens.
Your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is as high as the mountains of God.
Your justice is as deep as the ocean.
You save both man and animal, O Lord.
7 How precious is your mercy, O God!
So all people[b] find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are satisfied by the rich food of your house.
You let them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light we see light.
Closing Prayer
10 Stretch out your mercy over those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the proud trample me.
Do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers have fallen.
They have been thrown down.
They are not able to rise!
43 The famine in the land was severe, 2 so when they had eaten all the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy a little more food for us.”
3 Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you, 5 but if you do not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man that you had another brother?”
7 They said, “The man interrogated us about ourselves and about our relatives. He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”
8 Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will get up and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will serve as a guarantee for him. You can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him in front of you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 Look, if we had not delayed, we certainly could have returned for a second time by now.”
11 Their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then this is what you should do: Put some of the best products of the land into your containers and take a gift for the man: a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 12 Also take double the amount of silver with you. Take back the silver that was returned into the mouths of your bags. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Also take your brother. Get going and return to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. But if I am deprived of my children, I am deprived.”
15 The men took that present, and they took double the amount of silver with them. They also took Benjamin. They got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
Choosing the Seven
6 In those days, as the number of disciples was increasing, a complaint arose from the Greek-speaking Jews against the Hebrew-speaking Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve called together the whole group of disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, carefully select from among you seven men with good reputations, who are full of the Holy[a] Spirit and wisdom. We will put them in charge of this service. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the entire group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch.
6 They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 The word of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly. Also a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.