Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 64

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; guard and preserve my life from the terror of the enemy.

² Hide me from the secret counsel and conspiracy of the ungodly, from the scheming of evildoers,

³ Who whet their tongues like a sword, who aim venomous words like arrows,

⁴ Who shoot from ambush at the blameless man; suddenly do they shoot at him, without self-reproach or fear.

⁵ They encourage themselves in an evil purpose, they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, Who will discover us?

⁶ They think out acts of injustice and say, We have accomplished a well-devised thing! For the inward thought of each one [is unsearchable] and his heart is deep.

⁷ But God will shoot an unexpected arrow at them; and suddenly shall they be wounded.

⁸ And they will be made to stumble, their own tongues turning against them; all who gaze upon them will shake their heads and flee away.

⁹ And all men shall [reverently] fear and be in awe; and they will declare the work of God, for they will wisely consider and acknowledge that it is His doing.

¹⁰ The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust and take refuge in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory and offer praise.

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

² How long will you lay snares for words and have to hunt for your argument? Do some clear thinking, and then we will reply.

³ Why are we counted as beasts [as if we had no sense]? Why are we unclean in your sight?

⁴ You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?

⁵ Yes, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the flame of his fire shall not shine.^(A)

⁶ The light shall be dark in his dwelling, and his lamp beside him shall be put out.^(B)

⁷ The steps of his strength shall be shortened, and his own counsel and the plans in which he trusted shall bring about his downfall.

⁸ For the wicked is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks upon a lattice-covered pit.

⁹ A trap will catch him by the heel, and a snare will lay hold on him.

¹⁰ A noose is hidden for him on the ground and a trap for him in the way.

¹¹ Terrors shall make him afraid on every side and shall chase him at his heels.

¹² The strength [of the wicked] shall be hunger-bitten, and calamity is ready at his side [if he halts].

¹³ By disease his strength and his skin shall be devoured; the firstborn of death [the worst of diseases] shall consume his limbs.

¹⁴ He shall be rooted out of his dwelling place in which he trusted, and he shall be brought to the king of terrors [death].

¹⁵ There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his [family]; sulphur shall be scattered over his dwelling [to purify it after his going].

¹⁶ The roots [of the wicked] shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off and wither.

¹⁷ His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.

¹⁸ He shall be thrust from light into darkness and driven out of the world.

¹⁹ He shall neither have son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he sojourned.

²⁰ They [of the west] that come after [the wicked man] shall be astonished and appalled at his day, as they [of the east] that went before were seized with horror.

²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly, and such is the place of him who knows not (recognizes not and honors not) God.

¹⁸ For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

¹⁹ For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing.^(A)

²⁰ Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world’s wisdom?

²¹ For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him], to save those who believed (who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him).

²² For while Jews [demandingly] ask for signs and miracles and Greeks pursue philosophy and wisdom,

²³ We preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified, [preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal and an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap], and to the Gentiles it is absurd and utterly unphilosophical nonsense.

²⁴ But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

²⁵ [This is] because the foolish thing [that has its source in] God is wiser than men, and the weak thing [that springs] from God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth.

²⁷ [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame.

²⁸ And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are,

²⁹ So that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God.

³⁰ But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].

³¹ So then, as it is written, Let him who boasts and proudly rejoices and glories, boast and proudly rejoice and glory in the Lord.^(B)