Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

^2-6 Don’t let them find me—
    the conspirators out to get me,
Using their tongues as weapons,
    flinging poison words,
    poison-tipped arrow-words.
They shoot from ambush,
    shoot without warning,
    not caring who they hit.
They keep fit doing calisthenics
    of evil purpose,
They keep lists of the traps
    they’ve secretly set.
They say to each other,
    “No one can catch us,
    no one can detect our perfect crime.”
The Detective detects the mystery
    in the dark of the cellar heart.

^7-8 The God of the Arrow shoots!
    They double up in pain,
Fall flat on their faces
    in full view of the grinning crowd.

^9-10 Everyone sees it. God’s
    work is the talk of the town.
Be glad, good people! Fly to God!
    Good-hearted people, make praise your habit.

^5-21 “Here’s the rule: The light of the wicked is put out.
    Their flame dies down and is extinguished.
Their house goes dark—
    every lamp in the place goes out.
Their strong strides weaken, falter;
    they stumble into their own traps.
They get all tangled up
    in their own red tape,
Their feet are grabbed and caught,
    their necks in a noose.
They trip on ropes they’ve hidden,
    and fall into pits they’ve dug themselves.
Terrors come at them from all sides.
    They run dazed and confused.
The hungry grave is ready
    to gobble them up for supper,
To lay them out for a gourmet meal,
    a treat for ravenous Death.
They are snatched from their home sweet home
    and marched straight to the death house.
Their lives go up in smoke;
    acid rain soaks their ruins.
Their roots rot
    and their branches wither.
They’ll never again be remembered—
    nameless in unmarked graves.
They are plunged from light into darkness,
    banished from the world.
And they leave empty-handed—not one single child—
    nothing to show for their life on this earth.
Westerners are aghast at their fate,
    easterners are horrified:
‘Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people.
    This is how the God-ignorant end up!’”