Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ Lord my God, what have I done?
    Have my hands done something wrong?
⁴ Have I done wrong to my friend
    or stolen without reason from my enemy?
⁵ If I have, let my enemy chase me and capture me.
    Let him trample me into the dust
    and bury me in the ground. Selah

⁶ Lord, rise up in your anger;
    stand up against my enemies’ anger.
    Get up and demand fairness.
⁷ Gather the nations around you
    and rule them from above.
⁸ Lord, judge the people.
    Lord, defend me because I am right,
    because I have done no wrong, God Most High.
⁹ God, you do what is right.
    You know our thoughts and feelings.
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people,
    and help those who do what is right.

¹⁰ God protects me like a shield;
    he saves those whose hearts are right.
¹¹ God judges by what is right,
    and God is always ready to punish the wicked.
¹² If they do not change their lives,
    God will sharpen his sword;
    he will string his bow and take aim.
¹³ He has prepared his deadly weapons;
    he has made his flaming arrows.

¹⁴ There are people who think up evil
    and plan trouble and tell lies.
¹⁵ They dig a hole to trap others,
    but they will fall into it themselves.
¹⁶ They will get themselves into trouble;
    the violence they cause will hurt only themselves.

¹⁷ I praise the Lord because he does what is right.
    I sing praises to the Lord Most High.

⁶ “I did not give you any food in your cities,
    and there was not enough to eat in any of your towns,
    but you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
⁷ “I held back the rain from you
    three months before harvest time.
Then I let it rain on one city
    but not on another.
Rain fell on one field,
    but another field got none and dried up.
⁸ People weak from thirst went from town to town for water,
    but they could not get enough to drink.
    Still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
⁹ “I made your crops die from disease and mildew.
    When your gardens and your vineyards got larger,
locusts ate your fig and olive trees.
    But still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
¹⁰ “I sent disasters against you,
    as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with swords,
    and your horses were taken from you.
I made you smell the stink from all the dead bodies,
    but still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
¹¹ “I destroyed some of you
    as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick pulled from a fire,
    but still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.

¹² “So this is what I will do to you, Israel;
    because I will do this to you,
    get ready to meet your God, Israel.”

¹³ He is the one who makes the mountains
    and creates the wind
    and makes his thoughts known to people.
He changes the dawn into darkness
    and walks over the mountains of the earth.
    His name is the Lord God All-Powerful.