Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The End of the Wicked and the Peace of the Godly
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of David (A)when Doeg the Edomite went and (B)told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.
2 Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 You love evil more than good,
Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
4 You love all devouring words,
You deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise destroy you forever;
He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous also shall see and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “Here is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his [b]wickedness.”
The Covenant at Shechem(A)
24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to (B)Shechem and (C)called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they (D)presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (E)‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of [a]the River in old times; and (F)they served other gods.
11 Then (A)you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And (B)the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 (C)I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but (D)not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and (E)cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
14 (F)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in (G)sincerity and in truth, and (H)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of [a]the River and (I)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, (J)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether (K)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of [b]the River, or (L)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. (M)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. (N)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, (O)“You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a (P)holy God. He is (Q)a jealous God; (R)He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 (S)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, (T)then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”
21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”
22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (U)you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”
And they said, “We are witnesses!”
23 “Now therefore,” he said, (V)“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and (W)incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”
24 And the people (X)said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”
25 So Joshua (Y)made[c] a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance (Z)in Shechem.
26 Then Joshua (AA)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took (AB)a large stone, and (AC)set it up there (AD)under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be (AE)a witness to us, for (AF)it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So (AG)Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.
All Have Sinned(A)
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that (B)they are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
(C)“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their(D) throat is an open [a]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
(E)“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose(F) mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their(G) feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There(H) is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever (I)the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that (J)every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become [b]guilty before God. 20 Therefore (K)by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
God’s Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now (L)the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, (M)being witnessed by the Law (N)and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all [c]and on all who believe. For (O)there is no difference;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.