Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 39
The Fleeting Nature of Life
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Davidic psalm.
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”(A)
2 I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.(B)
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.(C)
I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.(D)
5 You, indeed, have made my days short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.(E)
6 “Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.(F)
7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.(G)
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.(H)
9 I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.(I)
10 Remove Your torment from me;
I fade away because of the force of Your hand.(J)
11 You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;(K)
every man is only a vapor.(L)
Reminder of the Covenant
11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the words of this covenant(A) and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. 3 You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,(B) 4 which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,(C) out of the iron furnace.’(D) I declared: ‘Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,’(E) 5 in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors,(F) to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”(G)
6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out. 7 For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again,[a](H) ‘Obey My voice.’ 8 Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart.(I) So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”
9 The Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah(J) and the residents of Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors(K) who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them.(L) The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.
11 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape.(M) They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.(N) 13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah,(O) and the altars you have set up to Shame[b](P)—altars to burn incense to Baal—as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.
14 “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf,(Q) for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.
15 What right does My beloved have
to be in My house,(R)
having carried out so many evil schemes?
Can holy meat[c](S) prevent your disaster[d]
so you can rejoice?
16 The Lord named you
a flourishing olive tree,(T)
beautiful with well-formed fruit.
He has set fire to it,
and its branches are consumed[e](U)
with a great roaring sound.(V)
17 “The Lord of Hosts who planted you(W) has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”
God’s Righteous Judgment
2 Therefore, any one of you[a](A) who judges is without excuse.(B) For when you judge another,(C) you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you really think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His kindness,(D) restraint,(E) and patience,(F) not recognizing[b] that God’s kindness(G) is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath(H) for yourself in the day of wrath,(I) when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will repay each one according to his works:(J)[c] 7 eternal life(K) to those who by persistence in doing good(L) seek glory, honor,(M) and immortality;(N) 8 but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking(O) and disobey the truth(P) but are obeying unrighteousness; 9 affliction and distress(Q) for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;(R) 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 11 There is no favoritism with God.(S)
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