Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁹ But You, O Eternal, stay close;
    O You, my help, hurry to my side.
²⁰ Save my life from violence,
    my sweet life from the teeth of the wild dog.
²¹ Rescue me from the mouth of the lion.
    From the horns of the wild oxen, You responded to my plea.

²² I will speak Your Name to my brothers and sisters
    when I praise You in the midst of the community.
²³ You who revere the Eternal, praise Him—
    descendants of Jacob, worship Him;
    be struck with wonder before Him, all you children of Israel.
²⁴ He’s not put off
    by the suffering of the suffering one;
He doesn’t pretend He hasn’t seen him;
    when he pleaded for help, He listened.

²⁵ You stir my praise in the great assembly;
    I will fulfill my vows before those who humble their hearts before Him.
²⁶ Those who are suffering will eat and be nourished;
    those who seek Him will praise the Eternal.
    May your hearts beat strong forever!
²⁷ Those from the farthest reaches of the earth will remember
    and turn back to look for the Eternal;
All the families of the nations
    will worship You.
²⁸ The Eternal owns the world;
    He exercises His gentle rule over all the nations.

59 The Eternal One’s reach is not so short that He cannot save you.
    His ear is not so deaf that He cannot hear you.

² Your persistent wrongdoing has come between you and your God;
    since you constantly reject and push God away,
He had to turn aside and ignore your cries.
³ For your hands are covered with blood;
    your fingers are sticky with all manner of crimes;
Your lips drip vicious lies;
    your tongue mutters all manner of wickedness.
⁴ Everyone misuses the judicial system,
    clogging it with twisted accusations and misleading testimony.
With empty charges and baseless lies
    they conceive trouble and give birth to injustice.
⁵ They concoct and create the most poisonous things;
    it’s as if they hatch vipers’ eggs or weave spiders’ webs.
Eat their eggs and die; crush one and a viper is hatched—
    yet more poison, hurt, and distrust.
⁶ There is nothing of value in their creations—
    the webs they weave are not fit to clothe or cover anyone.
The products they make are nothing but trouble;
    violence comes naturally to them.
⁷ Their feet race to do evil;
    they rush to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are bent toward injustice;
    destruction and trouble line the roads of their lives.
⁸ They never travel the path of peace;^[a]
    no justice is found where they have been.
They set a course down crooked roads;
    no one who follows their lead has a chance of knowing peace.