Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
(A special psalm by David for the music leader. He wrote this when Doeg from Edom went to Saul and said, “David has gone to Ahimelech's house.”)
God Is in Control
1 (A) You people may be strong
and brag about your sins,
but God can be trusted
day after day.
2 You plan brutal crimes,
and your lying words cut
like a sharp razor.
3 You would rather do evil
than good, and tell lies
than speak the truth.
4 You love to say cruel things,
and your words are a trap.
5 God will destroy you forever!
He will grab you and drag you
from your homes.
You will be uprooted
and left to die.
6 When good people see
this fearsome sight,
they will laugh and say,
7 “Just look at them now!
Instead of trusting God,
they trusted their wealth
and their cruelty.”
8 But I am like an olive tree
growing in God's house,
and I can count on his love
forever and ever.
9 I will always thank God
for what he has done;
I will praise his good name
when his people meet.
11 Pay attention, you that belong
to the royal family.
12 Each new day, make sure
that justice is done,
and rescue those
who are being robbed.
Or else my anger will flame up
like a fire that never goes out.
22 I did not see a temple there. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb were its temple. 23 (A) And the city did not need the sun or the moon. The glory of God was shining on it, and the Lamb was its light.
24 (B) Nations will walk by the light of that city, and kings will bring their riches there. 25 (C) Its gates are always open during the day, and night never comes. 26 The glorious treasures of nations will be brought into the city. 27 (D) But nothing unworthy will be allowed to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life[a] will be in the city.
22 (E) The angel showed me a river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave life. The river came from the throne where God and the Lamb were seated. 2 (F) Then it flowed down the middle of the city's main street. On each side of the river are trees[b] that grow a different kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are used as medicine to heal the nations.
3 (G) God's curse will no longer be on the people of that city. He and the Lamb will be seated there on their thrones, and its people will worship God 4 (H) and will see him face to face. God's name will be written on the foreheads of the people. 5 (I) Never again will night appear, and no one who lives there will ever need a lamp or the sun. The Lord God will be their light, and they will rule forever.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.