Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir 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, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]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 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 [e]his evil desire.”
Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall
22 Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who (A)sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord, “(B)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his (C)oppressor. Also (D)do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not (E)shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then (F)kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting [a]in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. 5 (G)But if you will not obey these words, I (H)swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.”’” 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are like (I)Gilead to Me,
Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you like a (J)wilderness,
Like cities which are not inhabited.
7 “For I will set apart (K)destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will (L)cut down your choicest cedars
And (M)throw them on the fire.
8 “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will (N)say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?’ 9 Then they will [b]answer, ‘Because they (O)forsook the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”
43 (A)For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, [a]on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44 (B)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45 (C)The good man out of the good [b]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; (D)for his mouth speaks from [c]that which fills his heart.
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