Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 7[a]
God the Vindicator
1 A plaintive song of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, the Benjaminite.
I
2 Lord my God, in you I trusted;
save me; rescue me from all who pursue me,(A)
3 Lest someone maul me like a lion,
tear my soul apart with no one to deliver.
II
4 Lord my God, if I have done this,[b]
if there is guilt on my hands,
5 If I have maltreated someone treating me equitably—
or even despoiled my oppressor without cause—
6 Then let my enemy pursue and overtake my soul,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my honor in the dust.(B)
Selah
III
7 Rise up, Lord, in your anger;
be aroused against the outrages of my oppressors.(C)
Stir up the justice, my God, you have commanded.
8 Have the assembly of the peoples gather about you;
and return on high above them,
9 the Lord will pass judgment on the peoples.
Judge me, Lord, according to my righteousness,
and my integrity.
10 Let the malice of the wicked end.
Uphold the just one,
O just God,(D)
who tries hearts and minds.
IV
11 God is a shield above me
saving the upright of heart.(E)
12 God is a just judge, powerful and patient,[c]
not exercising anger every day.
13 If one does not repent,
God sharpens his sword,
strings and readies the bow,(F)
14 Prepares his deadly shafts,
makes arrows blazing thunderbolts.(G)
V
15 Consider how one conceives iniquity;
is pregnant with mischief,
and gives birth to deception.(H)
16 He digs a hole and bores it deep,
but he falls into the pit he has made.(I)
17 His malice turns back upon his head;
his violence falls on his own skull.
VI
18 I will thank the Lord in accordance with his justice;
I will sing the name of the Lord Most High.(J)
7 (A)You, son of man—I have appointed you as a sentinel for the house of Israel; when you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them for me. 8 When I say to the wicked, “You wicked, you must die,” and you do not speak up to warn the wicked about their ways, they shall die in their sins, but I will hold you responsible for their blood. 9 If, however, you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, but they do not, then they shall die in their sins, but you shall save your life.
Individual Retribution. 10 As for you, son of man, speak to the house of Israel: You people say, “Our crimes and our sins weigh us down; we are rotting away because of them. How can we survive?”(B) 11 (C)Answer them: As I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?
12 As for you, son of man, say to your people: The justice of the just will not save them on the day they sin; the wickedness of the wicked will not bring about their downfall on the day they turn from their wickedness. No, the just cannot save their lives on the day they sin.(D) 13 Even though I say to the just that they shall surely live, if they, relying on their justice, do wrong, none of their just deeds shall be remembered; because of the wrong they have done, they shall die.(E) 14 And though I say to the wicked that they shall die, if they turn away from sin and do what is just and right— 15 returning pledges, restoring stolen goods, walking by statutes that bring life, doing nothing wrong—they shall surely live; they shall not die.(F) 16 None of the sins they committed shall be remembered against them. If they do what is right and just, they shall surely live.
17 Your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” But it is their way that is not fair. 18 When the just turn away from justice and do wrong, they shall die for it.(G) 19 When the wicked turn away from wickedness and do what is right and just, because of this they shall live. 20 But still you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” I will judge each of you according to your ways, house of Israel.
The Work of the Son. 19 [a]Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing;(A) for what he does, his son will do also. 20 For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.(B) 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,[b] so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.(C) 22 Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment[c] to his Son,(D) 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.(E) 25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(F) 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.(G) 27 And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.(H) 28 [d]Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice(I) 29 and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.(J)
30 “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.(K)
Witnesses to Jesus. 31 (L)“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified. 32 But there is another[e] who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. 33 You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.(M) 34 I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved.(N) 35 He was a burning and shining lamp,[f] and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.(O) 36 But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.(P) 37 Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,(Q) 38 and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.(R) 39 You search[g] the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.(S) 40 But you do not want to come to me to have life.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.