Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³ Lord, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us,
    because people haven’t stopped making fun of us.
⁴ We have had to put up with a lot from those who are proud.
    They were always laughing at us.

² “My troubled thoughts force me to answer you.
    That’s because I’m very upset.
³ What you have just said dishonors me.
    So I really have to reply to you.

⁴ “I’m sure you must know how things have always been.
    They’ve been that way
    ever since human beings were placed on this earth.
⁵ Those who are evil are happy for only a short time.
    The joy of ungodly people lasts only for a moment.
⁶ Their pride might reach all the way up to the heavens.
    Their heads might touch the clouds.
⁷ But they will disappear forever,
    like the waste from their own bodies.
Anyone who has seen them will say,
    ‘Where did they go?’
⁸ Like a dream they will fly away.
    They will never be seen again.
    They will be driven away like visions in the night.
⁹ The eyes that saw them won’t see them anymore.
    Even their own families won’t remember them.
¹⁰ Their children must pay back what they took from poor people.
    Their own hands must give back the wealth they stole.
¹¹ They might feel young and very strong.
    But they will soon lie down in the dust of their graves.