Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹ Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.
It cannot be shaken. It will stand forever.
² As Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains,
so the Lord surrounds his people from now to eternity.
³ No, the scepter of wickedness will not rest
    on the land assigned to the righteous,
so that the righteous do not reach out their hands toward evil.
⁴ Do good, O Lord, for the good
and for those who are upright in their hearts.
⁵ But those who turn to their crooked ways—
the Lord will send them away with the evildoers.
Peace be on Israel.

² To learn wisdom and discipline,
to understand sayings^[a] that give insight,^[b]
3 to acquire discipline to act sensibly,
to acquire righteousness, justice, and fairness,
⁴ to give good judgment^[c] to the inexperienced,
to give a young man knowledge and foresight.

⁸ Listen, my son, to your father’s discipline,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching,
⁹ because they are a garland of grace for your head.
They are jewelry for your neck.
¹⁰ My son, if sinners lure you,
do not go along with them.
¹¹ If they say,
“Come with us.
Let’s lie in wait to shed blood.
Let’s hide and ambush an innocent person for no reason.
¹² We will swallow them alive like the grave.
We will swallow them whole
    like those who go down to the pit.
¹³ We will find all kinds of wealth and treasure.
    We will fill our houses with loot.
¹⁴ Cast your lot with us.
    We will all share one bag of money.”
¹⁵ My son, do not walk along the road with them.
Do not set foot on their path,
¹⁶     because their feet run to do evil,
    and they hurry to shed blood.
¹⁷ How useless to spread a net in the sight of any bird!
¹⁸ Yet they set up an ambush for their own blood.
They hide in ambush to take their own lives.
¹⁹ This is where the path leads for everyone
    who is greedy for stolen property:
It takes away the life of those who possess it.