Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption
A Psalm of David.
26 Vindicate (A)me, O Lord,
For I have (B)walked in my integrity.
(C)I have also trusted in the Lord;
I shall not slip.
2 (D)Examine me, O Lord, and [a]prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And (E)I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not (F)sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have (G)hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
The Lord Will Not Relent
15 Then the Lord said to me, (A)“Even if (B)Moses and (C)Samuel stood before Me, My [a]mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
(D)“Such as are for death, to death;
And such as are for the sword, to the sword;
And such as are for the famine, to the famine;
And such as are for the (E)captivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I will (F)appoint over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, (G)the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will hand them over to (H)trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of (I)Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Or who will bemoan you?
Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?
6 (J)You have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,
“You have (K)gone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
(L)I am [b]weary of relenting!
7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;
I will (M)bereave them of children;
I will destroy My people,
Since they (N)do not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A plunderer at noonday;
I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them (O)suddenly.
7 For (A)the [a]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only [b]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, (B)whom the Lord will consume (C)with the breath of His mouth and destroy (D)with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is (E)according to the working of Satan, with all power, (F)signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among (G)those who perish, because they did not receive (H)the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And (I)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, (J)that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but (K)had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.