Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

27 ⁽⁰⁾ By David:

⁽¹⁾ Adonai is my light and salvation;
whom do I need to fear?
Adonai is the stronghold of my life;
of whom should I be afraid?
² When evildoers assailed me
to devour my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
they stumbled and fell.
³ If an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear;
if war breaks out against me,
even then I will keep trusting.

⁴ Just one thing have I asked of Adonai;
only this will I seek:
to live in the house of Adonai
all the days of my life,
to see the beauty of Adonai
and visit in his temple.
⁵ For he will conceal me in his shelter
on the day of trouble,
he will hide me in the folds of his tent,
he will set me high on a rock.
⁶ Then my head will be lifted up
above my surrounding foes,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, sing praises to Adonai.

⁷ Listen, Adonai, to my voice when I cry;
show favor to me; and answer me.
⁸ “My heart said of you, ‘Seek my face.’”
Your face, Adonai, I will seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
don’t turn your servant away in anger.
You are my help; don’t abandon me;
don’t leave me, God my savior.
¹⁰ Even though my father and mother have left me,
Adonai will care for me.
¹¹ Teach me your way, Adonai;
lead me on a level path
because of my enemies —
¹² don’t give me up to the whims of my foes;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
also those who are breathing violence.

¹³ If I hadn’t believed that I would see
Adonai’s goodness in the land of the living, . . .
¹⁴ Put your hope in Adonai, be strong,
and let your heart take courage!
Yes, put your hope in Adonai!

¹⁰ Don’t we all have the same father?
Didn’t one God create us all?
Then why do we break faith with each other,
profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
¹¹ Y’hudah has broken faith;
an abomination has been committed
in Isra’el and Yerushalayim.
For Y’hudah has profaned the sanctuary
of Adonai, which he loves,
by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.
¹² If a man does this and presents an offering
to Adonai-Tzva’ot, may Adonai cut him off
from the tents of Ya‘akov,
whether initiator or follower.

¹³ Here is something else you do:
you cover Adonai’s altar with tears,
with weeping and with sighing,
because he no longer looks at the offering
or receives your gift with favor.
¹⁴ Nevertheless, you ask, “Why is this?”
Because Adonai is witness
between you and the wife of your youth
that you have broken faith with her,
though she is your companion, your wife by covenant.
¹⁵ And hasn’t he made [them] one [flesh]
in order to have spiritual blood-relatives?
For what the one [flesh] seeks
is a seed from God.
Therefore, take heed to your spirit,
and don’t break faith with the wife of your youth.
¹⁶ “For I hate divorce,”
says Adonai the God of Isra’el,
“and him who covers his clothing with violence,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
and don’t break faith.

¹⁷ You have wearied Adonai with your words.
Yet you ask, “How have we wearied him?”
By saying that anyone who does wrong
is good from Adonai’s perspective,
and that he is delighted with them;
or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
3 “Look! I am sending my messenger
to clear the way before me;
and the Lord, whom you seek,
will suddenly come to his temple.
Yes, the messenger of the covenant,
in whom you take such delight —
look! Here he comes,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.