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.
16 This is my warning to my people, says the Lord Almighty. Don’t listen to these false prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for me! 17 They keep saying to these rebels who despise me, “Don’t worry! All is well!”; and to those who live the way they want to, “The Lord has said you shall have peace!”
18 But can you name even one of these prophets who lives close enough to God to hear what he is saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen? 19 See, the Lord is sending a furious whirlwind to sweep away these wicked men. 20 The terrible anger of the Lord will not abate until it has carried out the full penalty he decrees against them. Later, when Jerusalem has fallen,[a] you will see what I mean.
21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they claim to speak for me; I gave them no message, yet they say their words are mine. 22 If they were mine, they would try to turn my people from their evil ways.
16 “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wary as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware! For you will be arrested and tried, and whipped in the synagogues. 18 Yes, and you must stand trial before governors and kings for my sake. This will give you the opportunity to tell them about me, yes, to witness to the world.
19 “When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say at your trial, for you will be given the right words at the right time. 20 For it won’t be you doing the talking—it will be the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you!
21 “Brother shall betray brother to death, and fathers shall betray their own children. And children shall rise against their parents and cause their deaths. 22 Everyone shall hate you because you belong to me. But all of you who endure to the end shall be saved.
23 “When you are persecuted in one city, flee to the next! I[a] will return before you have reached them all! 24 A student is not greater than his teacher. A servant is not above his master. 25 The student shares his teacher’s fate. The servant shares his master’s! And since I, the master of the household, have been called ‘Satan,’[b] how much more will you!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.