Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
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
for your name’s sake.(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 have redeemed me,[a] Lord, God of truth.(G)
19 How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you.
In the presence of everyone[a] you have acted
for those who take refuge in you.(A)
20 You hide them in the protection of your presence;(B)
you conceal them in a shelter
from human schemes,
from quarrelsome tongues.(C)
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his faithful love to me
in a city under siege.(D)
22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight.”(E)
But you heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to you for help.(F)
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 obstruct 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 forty 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 you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.(B) 3 Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?(C) 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter 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 under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
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