Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

62 I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. ² Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?

^3-4 But what is this? They pick on me at a time when my throne^[a] is tottering; they plot my death and use lies and deceit to try to force me from the throne. They are so friendly to my face while cursing in their hearts!

⁵ But I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. ⁶ Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense, and fortress—why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?

⁷ My protection and success^[b] come from God alone. He is my refuge, a Rock where no enemy can reach me. ⁸ O my people, trust him all the time. Pour out your longings before him, for he can help! ⁹ The greatest of men or the lowest—both alike are nothing in his sight. They weigh less than air on scales.

¹⁰ Don’t become rich by extortion and robbery; if your riches increase, don’t be proud. ^11-12 God has said it many times, that power belongs to him (and also, O Lord, steadfast love belongs to you). He rewards each one of us according to what our works deserve.

⁹ “O Israel, ever since that awful night in Gibeah,^[a] there has been only sin, sin, sin! You have made no progress whatever. Was it not right that the men of Gibeah were wiped out? ¹⁰ I will come against you for your disobedience; I will gather the armies of the nations against you to punish you for your heaped-up sins.

¹¹ “Ephraim is accustomed to treading out the grain—an easy job she loves. I have never put her under a heavy yoke before; I have spared her tender neck. But now I will harness her to the plow and harrow. Her days of ease are gone.

¹² “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will reap a crop of my love; plow the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower salvation upon you.

¹³ “But you have cultivated wickedness and raised a thriving crop of sins. You have earned the full reward of trusting in a lie—believing that military might and great armies can make a nation safe!

¹⁴ “Therefore, the terrors of war shall rise among your people, and all your forts will fall, just as at Beth-arbel, which Shalman^[b] destroyed; even mothers and children were dashed to death there. ¹⁵ That will be your fate, too, you people of Israel, because of your great wickedness. In one morning the king of Israel shall be destroyed.

5 Look here, you rich men, now is the time to cry and groan with anguished grief because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. ² Your wealth is even now rotting away, and your fine clothes are becoming mere moth-eaten rags. ³ The value of your gold and silver is dropping fast, yet it will stand as evidence against you and eat your flesh like fire. That is what you have stored up for yourselves to receive on that coming day of judgment. ⁴ For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. Their cries have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

⁵ You have spent your years here on earth having fun, satisfying your every whim, and now your fat hearts are ready for the slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and killed good men who had no power to defend themselves against you.