Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book I—Psalms 3–41[a]
Psalm 3[b]
Trust in God in Time of Danger
1 A psalm of David. When he was fleeing from his son Absalom.
2 O Lord, how great is the number of my enemies,
how many are those who rise up against me.
3 How numerous are the ones who say of me,
“He will not receive salvation from God.” Selah[c]
4 But you, O Lord, are a shield to protect me;
you are my glory and the one who raises my head high.[d]
5 Whenever I cry aloud to the Lord,
he answers me from his holy mountain.[e] Selah
6 I lie down and sleep;
I awaken again, for the Lord sustains me.[f]
7 Thus, I will not fear the multitudes
who have surrounded me on every side.
8 Rise up, O Lord!
Rescue me, O my God!
You will strike all my enemies across the face[g]
and break the teeth of the wicked.
9 Salvation comes from the Lord.
May your blessing be upon your people. Selah
5 “Gaze upon the nations and see.
You will be amazed, even astounded.
You will not believe it when you are told
what I am doing in your days.
6 For I am stirring up the Chaldeans,
that savage and unruly people,
who march across the whole earth
to seize dwellings of other people.
7 They inspire fear and terror,
and they impose justice and judgment
according to their own standards.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more frightening than wolves at dusk.
Their horses gallop on,
with riders advancing from far away,
swooping like eagles to devour their prey.
9 They are all bent on violence,
a horde moving steadily forward like an east wind;
they scoop up captives like sand.
10 They scoff at kings,
they despise rulers.
They regard every fortress with contempt,
as they build earthen ramps to conquer it.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and are gone,
as they ascribe their strength to their god.”
12 “O Lord, are you not from everlasting,
my holy God, you who are immortal?
You have marked them for judgment, O Lord;
you, O Rock, have designated them for punishment.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil,
and you cannot countenance wrongdoing.
Why then do you remain silent
as you gaze on the treachery of the wicked,
watching them while they devour
those who are more righteous?
14 You have made men like the fish of the sea,
like crawling creatures without a ruler.
15 The wicked haul all of them up with a hook
or catch them in a net.
They gather them up in a seine,
and then rejoice and exult.
16 Therefore, the wicked offer sacrifice to their net
and burn incense to their seine,
for, thanks to them, they live sumptuously
and enjoy elegant food.
17 Shall they then be allowed
to draw their sword unceasingly,
and to slaughter nations without mercy?
Exhortation To Practice Patience
Trials—the Test of a Faith in Progress.[a] 2 My brethren, consider it a cause of great joy whenever you endure various trials, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith will develop perseverance. 4 And let perseverance complete its work so that you may become perfect and complete, and not be deficient in any respect.
A Believer’s Prayer.[b] 5 If someone among you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he is to ask with faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. 7 A man like that should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 since he is of two minds and inconsistent in everything he does.
Rich and Poor.[c] 9 The brother who is in modest circumstances should take pride in being raised up. 10 Likewise, the one who is rich should glory in being brought low, for he will disappear like a flower of the field. 11 Once the sun comes up with its scorching rays and withers the grass, its flower droops and its beauty vanishes. So too the rich man will fade away in the midst of his affairs.
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