Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

A Prayer of David.

Joshua, the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^[a](B)Satan standing at his right to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “^(C)The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has ^(D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a ^(E)log snatched from the fire?” ³ Now Joshua was clothed in ^(F)filthy garments and was standing before the angel. ⁴ And he responded and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “^(G)Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have ^(H)taken your guilt away from you and ^[b]will ^(I)clothe you with festive robes.” ⁵ Then I said, “Have them put a clean ^(J)headband on his head.” So they put the clean headband on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, ⁷ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘If you ^(K)walk in My ways and perform My service, then you will both ^(L)govern My house and be in charge of My ^(M)courtyards, and I will grant you ^[c]free access among these who are standing here.

The Branch

⁸ Now listen, Joshua, you high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a ^(N)sign: for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the ^[d](O)Branch. ⁹ For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are ^(P)seven eyes. Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘and I will ^(Q)remove the guilt of that land in one day. ¹⁰ On that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his ^(R)vine and under his fig tree.’”

⁴ For ^(A)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into ^[a]hell and ^(B)committed them to ^[b]pits of darkness, held for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare ^(C)the ancient world, but protected ^(D)Noah, a ^[c]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a ^(E)flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He ^(F)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an ^(G)example ^[d]of what is coming for the ^(H)ungodly; ⁷ and if He ^(I)rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the ^(J)perverted conduct of ^[e](K)unscrupulous people ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that ^(L)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ^9 (M)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from ^[f]a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the ^(N)day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who ^[g](O)indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and ^(P)despise ^[h]authority.

^[i]Reckless, ^(Q)self-centered, they ^(R)speak abusively of angelic ^[j]majesties without trembling, ^11 (S)whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But ^(T)these, like unreasoning animals, ^(U)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in ^[k]the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(V)the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to ^(W)revel in the ^(X)daytime. They are stains and blemishes, ^(Y)reveling in their ^[l]deceptions as they ^(Z)feast with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery ^[m]that never cease from sin, ^(AA)enticing ^(AB)unstable souls, having hearts trained in ^(AC)greed, ^(AD)accursed children; ¹⁵ abandoning ^(AE)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed ^(AF)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(AG)the ^[n]reward of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he received a rebuke for his own offense, ^(AH)for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are ^(AI)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, ^(AJ)for whom the ^[o]black darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, while speaking out ^(AK)arrogant words of no ^(AL)value they ^(AM)entice by fleshly desires, by ^(AN)indecent behavior, those who barely ^(AO)escape from the ones who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for ^(AP)by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have ^(AQ)escaped the defilements of the world by ^(AR)the knowledge of the ^(AS)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again ^(AT)entangled in them and are overcome, ^(AU)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ^21 (AV)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from ^(AW)the holy commandment ^(AX)handed on to them.