Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Guidance
To the Chief Musician. With [a]flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 Give (A)ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my [b]meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
(B)In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil [c]dwell with You.
5 The (C)boastful shall not (D)stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the (E)bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward [d]Your holy temple.
8 (F)Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no [e]faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
(G)Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You [f]defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
18 “Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I (A)will not [a]make a complete end of you. 19 And it will be when you say, (B)‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have (C)forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so (D)you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Hear this now, O (E)foolish people,
Without [b]understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:
22 (F)Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the (G)bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
24 They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
(H)Who gives rain, both the (I)former and the latter, in its season.
(J)He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 (K)Your iniquities have turned these things away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.
26 ‘For among My people are found wicked men;
They (L)lie in wait as one who sets snares;
They set a trap;
They catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
28 They have grown (M)fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they [c]surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead (N)the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
(O)Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.
29 (P)Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’
Their Conversion
13 For this reason we also thank God (A)without ceasing, because when you (B)received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it (C)not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively (D)works in you who believe. 14 For you, brethren, became imitators (E)of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For (F)you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15 (G)who killed both the Lord Jesus and (H)their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God (I)and are [a]contrary to all men, 16 (J)forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always (K)to fill up the measure of their sins; (L)but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
Longing to See Them
17 But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time (M)in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. 18 Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but (N)Satan hindered us. 19 For (O)what is our hope, or joy, or (P)crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the (Q)presence of our Lord Jesus Christ (R)at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.