Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 141

A Psalm of David.

¹ Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me. Give ear to my voice when I cry to You.

² Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.^(A)

³ Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.

⁴ Incline my heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing or to be occupied in deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties.

⁵ Let the righteous man smite and correct me—it is a kindness. Oil so choice let not my head refuse or discourage; for even in their evils or calamities shall my prayer continue.^(B)

⁶ When their rulers are overthrown in stony places, [their followers] shall hear my words, that they are sweet (pleasant, mild, and just).

⁷ The unburied bones [of slaughtered rulers] shall lie scattered at the mouth of Sheol, [as unregarded] as the lumps of soil behind the plowman when he breaks open the ground.^(C)

⁸ But my eyes are toward You, O God the Lord; in You do I trust and take refuge; pour not out my life nor leave it destitute and bare.

⁹ Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me, and the snares of evildoers.

¹⁰ Let the wicked fall together into their own nets, while I pass over them and escape.

¹⁴ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁵ Son of man, your brethren, even your kindred, your fellow exiles, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they of whom the [present] inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, They have gone far from the Lord [and from this land]; therefore this land is given to us for a possession.

¹⁶ Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: Whereas I have removed [Israel] far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet I have been to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries to which they have come.

¹⁷ Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.

¹⁸ And when they return there, they shall take away from it all traces of its detestable things and all its abominations (sex impurities and heathen religious practices).

¹⁹ And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God],^(A)

²⁰ That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

²¹ But as for those whose heart yearns for and goes after their detestable things and their loathsome abominations [associated with idolatry], I will repay their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels which were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel [the Shekinah, cloud] was over them.

²³ Then the glory of the Lord rose up from over the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

²⁴ And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me.

²⁵ And I told the exiles everything that the Lord had shown me.

²⁵ Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another.^(A)

²⁶ When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.

²⁷ Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

²⁸ Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his own hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.

²⁹ Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

³¹ Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

³² And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

5 Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].

² And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a ^[a]slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.^(B)