Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

5 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my ^(A)groaning.
² Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my ^(B)King and my God,
    for ^(C)to you do I pray.
³ O Lord, in ^(D)the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you^[a] and ^(E)watch.
⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
⁵ The ^(F)boastful shall not ^(G)stand before your eyes;
    you ^(H)hate all evildoers.
⁶ You destroy those who speak ^(I)lies;
    the Lord abhors ^(J)the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
⁷ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will ^(K)bow down ^(L)towards your ^(M)holy temple
    in the fear of you.
^8 (N)Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    ^(O)make your way straight before me.
⁹ For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is ^(P)destruction;
^(Q)their throat is ^(R)an open grave;
    they ^(S)flatter with their tongue.
^10 (T)Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them ^(U)fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.
¹¹ But let all who ^(V)take refuge in you ^(W)rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may ^(X)exult in you.
¹² For you ^(Y)bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you ^(Z)cover him with favour as with ^(AA)a shield.

²⁰ Declare this in the house of Jacob;
    proclaim it in Judah:
²¹ “Hear this, ^(D)O foolish and senseless people,
    ^(E)who have eyes, but see not,
    who have ears, but hear not.
^22 (F)Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
    Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand ^(G)as the boundary for the sea,
    a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
    though ^(H)they roar, they cannot pass over it.
^23 (I)But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
    they have turned aside and gone away.
²⁴ They do not say in their hearts,
    ‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
^(J)who gives the rain in its season,
    the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
    ^(K)the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
^25 (L)Your iniquities have turned these away,
    and your sins have kept good from you.
²⁶ For wicked men are found among my people;
    ^(M)they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.^[a]
(N)They set a trap;
    they catch men.
²⁷ Like a cage full of birds,
    their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
^{28     (O)}they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
    ^(P)they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
    and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
^29 (Q)Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?”
³⁰ An appalling and ^(R)horrible thing
    has happened in the land:
^31 (S)the prophets prophesy falsely,
    and the priests rule at their direction;
^(T)my people love to have it so,
    but what will you do when the end comes?