Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the director: With the sheminith. A song of David.
12 Save me, Lord!
We can no longer trust anyone!
All the good, loyal people are gone.
2 People lie to their neighbors.
They say whatever they think people want to hear.
3 The Lord should cut off their lying lips
and cut out their bragging tongues.
4 Those people think they can win any argument.
They say, “We are so good with words,
no one will be our master.”
5 They took advantage of the poor
and stole what little they had.
But the Lord knows what they did, and he says,
“I will rescue those who are poor and helpless,
and I will punish those who hurt them.”[a]
6 The Lord’s words are true and pure,
like silver purified by fire,
like silver melted seven times to make it perfectly pure.
7 Lord, take care of the helpless.
Protect them forever from the wicked people in this world.
8 The wicked are all around us,
and everyone thinks evil is something to be praised!
17 It is better to have nothing but a dry piece of bread to eat in peace than a whole house full of food with everyone arguing.
2 A smart servant will gain control over his master’s foolish son. He will be treated like a son and get a share of the inheritance.
3 Fire is used to make gold and silver pure, but a person’s heart is made pure by the Lord.
4 People who do evil listen to evil ideas. Liars listen to liars.
5 Whoever makes fun of beggars insults their Maker. Whoever laughs at someone else’s trouble will be punished.
19 I am free. I belong to no other person, but I make myself a slave to everyone. I do this to help save as many people as I can. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew so that I could help save Jews. I myself am not ruled by the law, but to those who are ruled by the law I became like someone who is ruled by the law. I did this to help save those who are ruled by the law. 21 To those who are without the law I became like someone who is without the law. I did this to help save those who are without the law. (But really, I am not without God’s law—I am ruled by the law of Christ.) 22 To those who are weak, I became weak so that I could help save them. I have become all things to all people. I did this so that I could save people in any way possible. 23 I do all this to make the Good News known. I do it so that I can share in the blessings of the Good News.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International