Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 5
With You the Wicked Cannot Dwell
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For the choir director. For flutes. A psalm by David.
Access in Prayer
1 Turn your ear to my words, O Lord.
Understand me when I sigh.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I lay out my requests in front of you,
and I watch for your answer.
No Access
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.
With you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand before your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You put to death those who speak lies.
The Lord is disgusted with bloodthirsty, deceitful men.
Access in Prayer
7 But as for me, by your great mercy
I will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
with reverence for you.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness.
Because of those who slander me,
make your way straight before me.
Lying Tongues
9 Nothing reliable comes out of their mouth.
From within them comes destruction.
Their throat is an open grave.
With their tongue they flatter.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let them fall because of their own schemes.
For their many treacherous deeds banish them,
because they have rebelled against you.
Praising Tongues
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad.
Let them sing for joy forever.
You cover them with protection,
so those who love your name rejoice in you.
12 Yes, you bless the righteous, Lord.
You surround them with your favor as a shield.
18 Yet even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not destroy you completely. 19 When the people ask, “Why has the Lord our God done this to us?” answer them, “Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.”
20 Declare this to the house of Jacob!
Proclaim it in Judah!
21 Hear this, you foolish, senseless people!
You have eyes but you cannot see.
You have ears but you cannot hear.
22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I made sand as the boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it cannot cross.
The waves toss back and forth,
but they cannot get past it.
The towering waves crash,
but they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside and wandered away.
24 They do not say to themselves,
“We should fear the Lord our God,
who sends autumn rains and spring rains at the right time,
who reserves for us enough weeks for the harvest.”
25 But your guilty actions have kept these things at a distance.
Your sins have kept these good things away from you.
26 Wicked men are found among my people.
Like men who trap birds, they lie in wait for my people
to set traps and catch people.[a]
27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit.
That is how they became powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat and sleek.
They have gone beyond evil words.[b]
They do not argue a case for the fatherless to help them win,
and they do not seek justice for the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord.
Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this one?
30 A terrible thing has taken place.
A horrible thing has happened in the land.
31 Prophets prophesy lies,
priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love this.
But what will you do in the end?
13 There is also another reason we give thanks to God unceasingly, namely, when you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you did not receive it as the word of men but as the word of God (as it really is), which is now at work in you who believe. 14 Yes, brothers, you became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus, because you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who severely persecuted us. They are not pleasing to God and are hostile to all people. 16 By hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved, they are always filling up the full measure of their sins. And the wrath has come upon them completely.[a]
Paul’s Desire to See the Thessalonians
17 As for us, brothers, after we were separated from you like orphans for just a short time (in person, not in our heart), it was with great desire that we made every effort to see you again in person. 18 For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, wanted this, not just once, but twice), but Satan hindered us. 19 Indeed, who is our hope or joy or crown about which we boast before our Lord Jesus when he returns? Is it not you? 20 Yes, you are our glory and our joy.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.