Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 52
Your Tongue Is a Razor
Heading
For the choir director. A maskil[a] by David.
When Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul
and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”[b]
Doeg’s Sin
1 Why do you boast about evil, you hero?
The mercy of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue plans destruction.
It is like a sharpened razor, you scheming liar.
3 You love evil rather than good. Interlude
You love lying rather than speaking what is right.
4 You lying tongue, you love every word that devours!
Doeg’s Judgment
5 But God will tear you down forever.
He will grab you and pull you out of your tent. Interlude
He will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 Then the righteous will see and fear.
Then they will laugh at him:
7 “Look, here is the man who did not make God his stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth.
He grew strong by his destructive deeds!”
David’s Delivery
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever because you have done this.
I will hope in your name in the presence of your favored ones
because it is good.
12 But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place for understanding?
13 Mankind does not know where it is kept.
It is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep ocean says, “It is not in me!”
The sea says, “It is not with me!”
15 It cannot be purchased with the best gold,[a]
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir[b]
or with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Gold and crystal cannot be compared to it.
The finest gold jewelry cannot be substituted for it.
18 Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning,
and the value of wisdom is greater than a bag of rubies.
19 The chrysolite of Cush cannot be compared with it.
It cannot be purchased even with pure gold.
20 But what about wisdom—where does it come from?
And where is the place to find understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all the living.
It is concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 Destruction and Death[c] say,
“With our ears we have heard only a rumor about it.”
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place,
24 because he watches the ends of the earth,
and he sees everything under the heavens.
25 He determines the weight of the wind,
and he measures out the waters by volume.
26 He made a decree for the rain
and established a path for the roaring thunderstorm.
27 He saw wisdom and appraised its value.
He established it and also explored it.
28 Then he said to mankind:
Listen carefully. The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.
The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it. 14 How narrow is the gate, and how difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Watch Out for False Prophets
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. You do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do you? 17 So then, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.