Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 12
For the Music Director. According to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord, for the godly man comes to an end,
for the faithful disappear from sons of men.
2 They speak empty words, each with his own neighbor;
they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
3 The Lord will cut off all flattering lips,
and the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 who have said, “With our tongue will we prevail;
our lips are in our control, who is master over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered,
because the needy sigh,
now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words;
they are silver tried in an earthen furnace
refined seven times.
7 You will keep them, O Lord;
You will preserve them from this generation.
8 The wicked walk on every side,
when the worthless of mankind are exalted.
12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death.
13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful,
and the end of that cheer is grief.
14 The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,
but a good man will be satisfied with his.
15 The simple believes every word,
but the prudent man considers his steps.
16 A wise man fears and departs from evil,
but the fool rages and is self-confident.
17 He who is quick-tempered deals foolishly,
and a man of wicked devices is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19 The evil bow before the good,
and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 The poor is hated even by his own neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins,
but he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
22 Do they not err who devise evil?
But mercy and truth will be to those who devise good.
23 In all labor there is profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their riches,
but the foolishness of fools is folly.
25 A true witness delivers souls,
but a deceitful witness speaks lies.
26 In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence,
and His children will have a place of refuge.
27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
to depart from the snares of death.
28 In the multitude of people is a king’s honor,
but in the lack of people is the destruction of a prince.
29 He who is slow to wrath is of great understanding,
but he who is hasty of spirit exalts folly.
30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh,
but envy the rottenness of the bones.
31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker,
but he who honors Him has mercy on the poor.
Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin
4 As they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly troubled because they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they seized them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men grew to about five thousand.
5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes 6 were assembled at Jerusalem with Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and all who were of the family of the high priest. 7 When they had stood them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we today are being examined concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, how this man has been healed, 10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. 11 He is
‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’[a]
12 There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.