Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Mercy
Psalm 6
1 For the music director, on the eight-string lyre, a psalm of David.
2 Adonai, do not rebuke me in Your anger!
Do not discipline me in Your wrath.
3 Be gracious to me, Adonai, for I am weak.
Heal me, Adonai—for my bones are shuddering with fear,
4 as is my soul—
and You, Adonai—how long?
5 Turn toward me, Adonai, deliver my soul!
Save me—because of Your mercy.
6 For there is no memory of You in death,
in Sheol who will praise You?
7 I am worn out with my groaning.
Every night I make my bed swim,
drenching my pillow with my tears.
8 My eyes are weakened with grief—
they age because of my enemies.
9 Away from me, all you evildoers!
For Adonai heard the sound of my weeping.
10 Adonai has heard my cry for mercy.
Adonai accepts my prayer:
11 “May all my enemies be ashamed, and stricken with terror.
May they turn back in sudden disgrace.”
None Upright Among Mankind
7 Woe is me! For I am like gatherings of produce in summer,
like gleanings of a vineyard.
There is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that I crave.
2 The pious have perished from the land,
there is none upright among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for blood.
A man hunts his brother with a net.
3 Both hands are diligent at doing evil.
The official and the judge ask for a bribe.
The distinguished man utters a desire of his soul.
Thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a prickly bush,
the most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen—of your visitation—is coming.
Then their confusion will occur.
5 Do not trust in a friend.
Do not trust in a close companion.
Guard the openings of your mouth
from her who lies on your breast.
6 For son treats father with contempt;
daughter rises up against mother;
daughter-in-law against mother-in-law:
a man’s enemies are the people of his own house.[a]
Zion’s Vindication
7 But I—I will watch for Adonai.
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Ephesus: Return to Your First Love
2 To the angel of Messiah’s community in Ephesus write: “Thus says the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks in the midst of the seven golden menorot: 2 I know all about your deeds and your toil and your patient endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. You have tested those who call themselves emissaries and are not, and have found them to be liars. 3 You have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.
4 “But this I have against you, that you have forsaken your first love. [a] 5 Remember then from where you have fallen. Repent and do the deeds you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your menorah from its place—unless you repent.
6 “Yet you have this going for you, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God.”[b]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.