Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The (B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)you worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
You (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And they will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [d]his evil desire.”
Pharaoh Warned of Assyria’s Fate
31 In the (A)eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his (B)hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 Behold, Assyria was a (C)cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And [a](D)very high,
And its top was among the [b]clouds.
4 The (E)waters made it grow, the [c]deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually [d]extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore (F)its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of (G)many waters [e]as it spread them out.
6 All the (H)birds of the sky nested in its twigs,
And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
7 So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its [f]roots extended to many waters.
8 The (I)cedars in (J)God’s garden [g]could not match it;
The junipers [h]could not compare with its branches,
And the plane trees [i]could not match its branches.
No tree in (K)God’s garden [j]could compare with it in its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of (L)Eden, which were in the (M)garden of God, were jealous of it.
10 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord [k]God says: “Because [l]it is tall in stature and has put its top among the [m]clouds, and its (N)heart is haughty in its loftiness, 11 I will hand it over to a [n](O)ruler of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. In accordance with its wickedness I have (P)driven it out. 12 (Q)Foreign (R)tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the (S)mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have (T)gone down from its shade and left it.
11 See with what large letters I have written to you (A)with my own hand! 12 All who want (B)to make a good showing in the flesh try to (C)compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they (D)will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who [a]are circumcised do not even (E)keep [b]the Law themselves, but they want to have you circumcised so that they may (F)boast in your flesh. 14 But (G)[c]far be it from me to boast, (H)except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, (I)through [d]which the world has been crucified to me, and (J)I to the world. 15 For (K)neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a (L)new [e]creation. 16 And all who will follow this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the (M)Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the [f](N)marks of Jesus.
18 (O)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be (P)with your spirit, (Q)brothers and sisters. Amen.
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