Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by Your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;(C)
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.(E)
5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
You redeem[a] me, Lord, God of truth.(G)
19 How great is Your goodness
that You have stored up for those who fear You
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in You.(A)
20 You hide them in the protection of Your presence;
You conceal them in a shelter[a]
from the schemes of men,
from quarrelsome tongues.(B)
21 May the Lord be praised,
for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me
in a city under siege.[b](C)
22 In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”(D)
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.(E)
Judgment on Israel
6 The Lord says:
I will not relent from punishing Israel(A)
for three crimes, even four,
because they sell a righteous person for silver
and a needy person for a pair of sandals.(B)
7 They trample the heads of the poor(C)
on the dust of the ground
and block the path of the needy.(D)
A man and his father have sexual relations
with the same girl,(E)
profaning My holy name.(F)
8 They stretch out beside every altar(G)
on garments taken as collateral,(H)
and in the house of their God,
they drink wine obtained through fines.(I)
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite(J) as Israel advanced;
his height(K) was like the cedars,
and he was as sturdy as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit(L) above and his roots beneath.
10 And I brought you from the land of Egypt(M)
and led you 40 years in the wilderness(N)
in order to possess the land of the Amorite.(O)
11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets(P)
and some of your young men as Nazirites.(Q)
Is this not the case, Israelites?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do Not Judge
7 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.(A) 2 For with the judgment you use,[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,[b] it will be measured to you.(B) 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye?(C) 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,(D) or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
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