Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 14[a]
For the music director, by David.
14 Fools say to themselves,[b] “There is no God.”[c]
They sin and commit evil deeds;[d]
none of them does what is right.[e]
2 The Lord looks down from heaven[f] at the human race,[g]
to see if there is anyone who is wise[h] and seeks God.[i]
3 Everyone rejects God;[j]
they are all morally corrupt.[k]
None of them does what is right,[l]
not even one.
4 All those who behave wickedly[m] do not understand—[n]
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to the Lord.
5 They are absolutely terrified,[o]
for God defends the godly.[p]
6 You want to humiliate the oppressed,[q]
even though[r] the Lord is their[s] shelter.
7 I wish the deliverance[t] of Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the well-being of his people,[u]
may Jacob rejoice,[v]
may Israel be happy![w]
4 “If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord,
“if you want to come back to me,[a]
you must get those disgusting idols[b] out of my sight
and must no longer go astray.[c]
2 You must be truthful, honest, and upright
when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’[d]
If you do,[e] the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are
and will make him the object of their boasting.”[f]
3 Yes,[g] this is what the Lord has said
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground, do not cast seeds among thorns.[h]
4 Commit yourselves to the Lord;
dedicate your hearts to me[i]
people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you
that no one will be able to extinguish.
That will happen because of the evil you have done.”
Warning of Coming Judgment
5 The Lord said,[j]
“Announce[k] this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem:
‘Sound the trumpet[l] throughout the land!’
Shout out loudly,
‘Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion.[m]
Run for safety! Do not delay!
For I am about to bring disaster out of the north.
It will bring great destruction.[n]
7 Like a lion that has come up from its lair[o]
the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base.[p]
He is coming out to lay your land waste.
Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.
8 So put on sackcloth!
Mourn and wail, saying,
‘The fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us!’[q]
9 When this happens,”[r] says the Lord,
“the king and his officials will lose their courage.
The priests will be struck with horror,
and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”
10 In response to all this[s] I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord,[t] you have surely allowed[u] the people of Judah and Jerusalem[v] to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’[w] But in fact a sword is already at our throats.”[x]
The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle
2 But false prophets arose among the people,[a] just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers[b] will[c] infiltrate your midst[d] with destructive heresies,[e] even to the point of[f] denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring[g] swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles.[h] Because of these false teachers,[i] the way of truth will be slandered.[j] 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their[k] condemnation pronounced long ago[l] is not sitting idly by;[m] their[n] destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned,[o] but threw them into hell[p] and locked them up[q] in chains[r] in utter darkness,[s] to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others,[t] when God[u] brought a flood on an ungodly world,[v] 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction,[w] having appointed[x] them to serve as an example[y] to future generations of the ungodly,[z] 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless[aa] men,[ab] 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul[ac] by the lawless deeds he saw and heard[ad]) 9 —if so,[ae] then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials,[af] and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment[ag] at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires[ah] and who despise authority.
Brazen and insolent,[ai] they are not afraid to insult[aj] the glorious ones,[ak]
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