Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The King Rules

110 The Lord says to my Lord, “Sit at My right side, for those who hate You will be a place to rest Your feet.” ² The Lord will send out Your strength from Zion, saying, “Rule in front of those who hate You.” ³ Your people will be willing to help in the day of Your power. Your young men will be dressed in holy clothes. They will come to You like water on the grass in the early morning.

⁴ The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a Religious Leader forever, in the same way as Melchizedek.” ⁵ The Lord is at Your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of His anger. ⁶ He will say who is guilty or not among the nations. He will fill them with dead bodies. He will crush the leaders of many lands. ⁷ He will drink from the river on the way. And so He will lift up His head.

²⁰ Wisdom calls out in the street. She lifts her voice in the center of town. ²¹ There she cries out in the noisy streets. At the open gates of the city she speaks: ²² “O foolish ones, how long will you love being foolish? How long will those who laugh at others be happy in their laughing? How long will fools hate much learning? ²³ Listen to my strong words! See, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. ²⁴ I called but you would not listen. I put out my hand and no one gave it a thought. ²⁵ You did not listen when I told you what you should do, and you would not hear any of my strong words. ²⁶ So I will laugh at your trouble. I will laugh when you are afraid. ²⁷ Fear will come to you like a storm. Hard times will come like a strong wind. When trouble and suffering come upon you, ²⁸ then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me. ²⁹ Because they hated much learning, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. ³⁰ They would not listen when I told them what they should do. They laughed at all my strong words. ³¹ So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own plans. ³² For the foolish will be killed by their turning away. The trust that fools put in themselves will destroy them. ³³ But he who listens to me will live free from danger, and he will rest easy from the fear of what is sinful.”

4 What starts wars and fights among you? Is it not because you want many things and are fighting to have them? ² You want something you do not have, so you kill. You want something but cannot get it, so you fight for it. You do not get things because you do not ask for them. ³ Or if you do ask, you do not receive because your reasons for asking are wrong. You want these things only to please yourselves.

⁴ You are as wives and husbands who are not faithful in marriage and do sex sins. Do you not know that to love the sinful things of the world and to be a friend to them is to be against God? Yes, I say it again, if you are a friend of the world, you are against God. ⁵ Do you think the Holy Writings mean nothing when they said, “The Holy Spirit Whom God has given to live in us has a strong desire for us to be faithful to Him”?

⁶ But He gives us more loving-favor. For the Holy Writings say, “God works against the proud but gives loving-favor to those who have no pride.” ^{(A) 7} So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Clean up your hearts, you who want to follow the sinful ways of the world and God at the same time. ⁹ Be sorry for your sins and cry because of them. Be sad and do not laugh. Let your joy be turned to sorrow. ¹⁰ Let yourself be brought low before the Lord. Then He will lift you up and help you.