Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The folly and wickedness of men.
For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.
53 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none that doeth good.
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did [a]understand,
That did seek after God.
3 Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy;
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And call not upon God?
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was;
For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:
Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When God [b]bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
10 Then came the word of Jehovah unto Samuel, saying, 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a [a]monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. 13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I have performed the commandment of Jehovah. 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have [b]utterly destroyed. 16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, [c]Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel; 18 and Jehovah sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Jehovah, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah? 20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have [d]utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of [e]witchcraft, and stubbornness is as [f]idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
22 And I saw no [a]temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the [b]temple thereof. 23 And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, [c]and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. 24 And the nations shall walk [d]amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. 25 And the [e]gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there): 26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: 27 and there shall in no wise enter into it anything [f]unclean, or he that [g]maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 22 1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of [h]the Lamb, 2 in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was [i]the tree of life, bearing twelve [j]manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be [k]no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his [l]servants shall serve him; 4 and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign [m]for ever and ever.
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