Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.[a] A Psalm of David.
12 Save, O Lord, for (A)the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone (B)utters lies to his neighbor;
with (C)flattering lips and (D)a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all (E)flattering lips,
the tongue that makes (F)great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because (G)the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
(H)I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the (I)safety for which he longs.”
6 (J)The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us[b] from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
17 (A)Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting[a] with strife.
2 A servant who deals wisely will rule over (B)a son who acts shamefully
and (C)will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 (D)The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
(E)and the Lord tests hearts.
4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor (F)insults his Maker;
he who is (G)glad at calamity will not go (H)unpunished.
19 For (A)though I am free from all, (B)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might (C)win more of them. 20 (D)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To (E)those outside the law I became (F)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but (G)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 (H)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. (I)I have become all things to all people, that (J)by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, (K)that I may share with them in its blessings.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.