Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the music director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Listen to my words, Lord,
Consider my (B)sighing.
2 Listen to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will present my [c]prayer to You and be on the (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil can dwell with You.
5 The (I)boastful will not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do injustice.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak lies;
The Lord loathes (M)the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant graciousness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of my enemies;
Make Your way [e]straight before me.
9 For there is (T)nothing [f]trustworthy in [g]their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them pay, God;
(W)Have them fall by their own schemes!
(X)Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make a complete destruction of you. 19 And it shall come about (A)when [a]they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will (B)serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Now hear this, you foolish and [b]senseless people,
Who have (C)eyes but do not see,
Who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not (D)fear Me?’ declares the Lord.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
For I have (E)placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal limit, and it will not cross over it.
Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, they will not cross over it.
23 But this people has a (F)stubborn and rebellious heart;
They have turned aside and departed.
24 They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
Who (G)gives rain in its season,
Both (H)the autumn rain and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The (I)appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 Your (J)wrongdoings have turned these away,
And your sins have kept good away from you.
26 For wicked people are found among My people,
They (K)watch like fowlers [c]lying in wait;
They set a trap,
They catch people.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of (L)deceit;
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 They are (M)fat, they are sleek,
They also [d]excel in deeds of wickedness;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the [e](N)orphan, so that they may be successful;
And they do not [f]defend the rights of the poor.
29 (O)Shall I not punish them for these things?’ declares the Lord,
‘Or shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?’
13 For this reason we also constantly (A)thank God that when you received the (B)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it (C)not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, (D)which also is at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became (E)imitators of (F)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are (G)in Judea, for (H)you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, (I)even as they did from the Jews, 15 (J)who both killed the Lord Jesus and (K)the prophets, and [a]drove us out. [b]They are not pleasing to God, [c]but hostile to all people, 16 (L)hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles (M)so that they may be saved; with the result that they always [d](N)reach the limit of their sins. But (O)wrath has come upon them [e]fully.
17 But we, brothers and sisters, having been orphaned from you by absence for a [f]short while—(P)in [g]person, not in [h]spirit—were all the more eager with great desire (Q)to see your face. 18 [i]For (R)we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, [j](S)more than once—and (T)Satan (U)hindered us. 19 For who is our hope, or (V)joy or crown of pride, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His [k](W)coming? Or is it not indeed you? 20 For you are (X)our glory and joy.
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