Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 142
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors
A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.(A)
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.(B)
3 When my spirit is faint,
you know my way.
In the path where I walk,
they have hidden a trap for me.(C)
4 Look on my right hand and see:
there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for me.(D)
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”(E)
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
12 “Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed
and found a city on iniquity!”(A)
13 Is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.(B)
15 “Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”(C)
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger![a]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!(D)
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—[b]
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(E)
18 What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!(F)
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.(G)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!(H)
Sexual Immorality Must Be Judged
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons, 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world.(A) 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler. Do not even eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging those outside? Are you not judges of those who are inside?(B) 13 God will judge those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.”(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.