Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

140 O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent, ² who plot and stir up trouble all day long. ³ Their words sting like poisonous snakes. ⁴ Keep me out of their power. Preserve me from their violence, for they are plotting against me. ⁵ These proud men have set a trap to catch me, a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air; they wait in ambush with a net to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.

^6-8 O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior, my God and my shield—hear me as I pray! Don’t let these wicked men succeed; don’t let them prosper and be proud. ⁹ Let their plots boomerang! Let them be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me. ¹⁰ Let burning coals fall down upon their heads, or throw them into the fire or into deep pits from which they can’t escape.

¹¹ Don’t let liars prosper here in our land; quickly punish them. ¹² But the Lord will surely help those they persecute; he will maintain the rights of the poor. ¹³ Surely the godly are thanking you, for they shall live in your presence.

¹⁵ And I will give you leaders after my own heart, who will guide you with wisdom and understanding.

¹⁶ Then, when your land is once more filled with people, says the Lord, you will no longer wish for “the good old days of long ago” when you possessed the Ark of God’s covenant. Those days will not be missed or even thought about, and the Ark will not be reconstructed, for the Lord himself will be among you. ¹⁷ The whole city of Jerusalem will be known as the throne of the Lord; all nations will come to him there and no longer stubbornly follow their evil desires. ¹⁸ At that time the people of Judah and of Israel will return together from their exile in the north, to the land I gave their fathers as an inheritance forever.

⁶ Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible wrath of God is upon all those who do them. ⁷ Don’t even associate with such people. ⁸ For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it! ⁹ Because of this light within you, you should do only what is good and right and true.

¹⁰ Learn as you go along what pleases the Lord.^{[a] 11} Take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead, rebuke and expose them. ¹² It would be shameful even to mention here those pleasures of darkness that the ungodly do. ¹³ But when you expose them, the light shines in upon their sin and shows it up, and when they see how wrong they really are, some of them may even become children of light! ¹⁴ That is why God says in the Scriptures, “Awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light.”

^15-16 So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to. ¹⁸ Don’t drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by him.

¹⁹ Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord. ²⁰ Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.