Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

17 Hear a just cause, O Lord; ^(B)attend to my cry!
    Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
² From your presence ^(C)let my vindication come!
    Let your eyes behold the right!
³ You have ^(D)tried my heart, you have ^(E)visited me by ^(F)night,
    you have ^(G)tested me, and you will find nothing;
    I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
⁴ With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
    I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵ My steps have ^(H)held fast to your paths;
    my feet have not slipped.
⁶ I ^(I)call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    ^(J)incline your ear to me; hear my words.
^7 (K)Wondrously show^[a] your steadfast love,
    O Saviour of those who seek refuge
    from ^(L)their adversaries at your right hand.
⁸ Keep me as ^(M)the apple of your eye;
    hide me in ^(N)the shadow of your wings,
⁹ from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who ^(O)surround me.
^10 (P)They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they ^(Q)speak arrogantly.
¹¹ They have now surrounded our ^(R)steps;
    they set their eyes to ^(S)cast us to the ground.
¹² He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion ^(T)lurking in ambush.
¹³ Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
¹⁴ from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from ^(U)men of the world whose ^(V)portion is in this life.^[b]
You fill their womb with treasure;^[c]
    they are satisfied with ^(W)children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.
¹⁵ As for me, I shall ^(X)behold your face in righteousness;
    when I ^(Y)awake, I shall be ^(Z)satisfied with your likeness.

⁵ Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man ^(A)who trusts in man
    and makes flesh his strength,^[a]
    whose heart turns away from the Lord.
^6 (B)He is like a shrub in the desert,
    ^(C)and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in ^(D)an uninhabited salt land.
^7 (E)“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    ^(F)whose trust is the Lord.
^8 (G)He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?
^10 (H)“I the Lord search the heart
    ^(I)and test the mind,^[b]
(J)to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”
¹¹ Like the ^(K)partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
    so is ^(L)he who gets riches but not by justice;
^(M)in the midst of his days they will leave him,
    ^(N)and at his end he will be a fool.
¹² A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³ O Lord, ^(O)the hope of Israel,
    ^(P)all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you^{[c] (Q)}shall be written in the earth,
    for ^(R)they have forsaken ^(S)the Lord, the fountain of living water.

^14 (T)Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
    save me, and I shall be saved,
    for ^(U)you are my praise.
^15 (V)Behold, they say to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it come!”
¹⁶ I have not run away from being your shepherd,
    nor have I desired the day of sickness.
^(W)You know ^(X)what came out of my lips;
    it was before your face.
¹⁷ Be not a terror to me;
    ^(Y)you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
^18 (Z)Let those be put to shame who persecute me,
    but let me not be put to shame;
^(AA)let them be dismayed,
    but let me not be dismayed;
^(AB)bring upon them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction!