Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Music Director: A Davidic Song
A Prayer for Deliverance
140 [a]Deliver me, Lord, from evil people,
preserve me from violent men,
2 who craft evil plans in their minds,
inciting wars every day.[b]
3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent;
the venom of vipers is on their lips.
4 Protect me, Lord, from the control of evil people,
from violent men who have planned to trip me.
5 The arrogant have laid a trap for me;
they have spread a net with ropes,
lining it with snares along the way.
6 So I say to the Lord, “You are my God;
listen to my voice
as I plead for mercy, Lord.
7 Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
you have protected my head in the time[c] of battle.
8 Never grant, Lord, the desires of the wicked;
never condone their plans
so they cannot exalt themselves.
9 May those who surround me discover
that the trouble they talk about falls on their own head!
10 May burning coals fall on them;
may they be cast into fire,
and into miry pits, never to rise again.
11 Let not the slanderer[d] become established in the land.
May evil quickly hunt down the violent man.
12 I know that the Lord will act on behalf of the tormented,
providing justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name,
while the upright live in your presence.
16 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says:
“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets
who are prophesying to you;
they’re giving you false hopes.
They declare visions from their own minds—
they don’t come from the Lord![a]
17 They keep on saying to those who despise me,
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace.”’
To all who stubbornly follow their own desires[b] they say,
‘Disaster won’t come upon you.’
18 But who has stood in the Lord’s council
to see and hear his message?
Who has paid attention to his message and obeyed it?[c]
19 Look, the storm of the Lord’s wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest,
and it will swirl down
around the head of the wicked.
20 The Lord’s anger won’t turn back
until he has accomplished
what he intended to do.
In the future
you will clearly understand it.
21 I didn’t send these prophets,[d]
but they ran anyway.
I didn’t speak to them,
but they prophesied.
22 If they had stood in my council
and had delivered my words to my people,
then they would have turned them back
from their evil way,
from their evil deeds.”
Future Persecutions(A)
16 “Pay attention, now! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves. 17 Watch out for people who will hand you over to the local councils and whip you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings because of me, to testify to them and to unbelievers.[a] 19 When they hand you over, don’t worry about how you are to speak[b] or what you are to say, because in that hour what you are to say will be given to you. 20 It won’t be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through[c] you.
21 “Brother will hand brother over for execution, and a father his child. Children will rebel against parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 23 So when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, because I tell all of you[d] with certainty that you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, and a slave is not above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher and a slave to be like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul,[e] how much more will they do the same to[f] those of his household!”
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