Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book III
Psalms 73–89
A psalm of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel.
He is good to those who have pure hearts.
2 But my feet had almost slipped.
I had almost tripped and fallen.
3 I saw that proud and sinful people were doing well.
And I began to long for what they had.
4 They don’t have any troubles.
Their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have the problems most people have.
They don’t suffer as other people do.
6 Their pride is like a necklace.
They put on meanness as if it were their clothes.
7 Many sins come out of their hard and stubborn hearts.
There is no limit to the evil things they can think up.
8 They laugh at others and speak words of hatred.
They are proud. They warn others about the harm they can do to them.
9 They brag as if they owned heaven itself.
They talk as if they controlled the earth.
10 So people listen to them.
They lap up their words like water.
11 They say, “How would God know what we’re doing?
Does the Most High God know anything?”
12 Here is what sinful people are like.
They don’t have a care in the world.
They keep getting richer and richer.
13 It seems as if I have kept my heart pure for no reason.
It didn’t do me any good to wash my hands
to show that I wasn’t guilty of doing anything wrong.
14 Day after day I’ve been in pain.
God has punished me in a new way every morning.
15 What if I had talked like that?
Then I wouldn’t have been faithful to God’s children.
16 I tried to understand it all.
But it was more than I could handle.
17 It troubled me until I entered God’s temple.
Then I understood what will finally happen to bad people.
18 God, I’m sure you will make them slip and fall.
You will throw them down and destroy them.
19 It will happen very suddenly.
A terrible death will take them away completely.
20 A dream goes away when a person wakes up.
Lord, it will be like that when you rise up.
It will be as if those people were only a dream.
32 “My children, listen to me.
Blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Listen to my teaching and be wise.
Don’t turn away from it.
34 Blessed are those who listen to me.
They watch every day at my doors.
They wait beside my doorway.
35 Those who find me find life.
They receive blessing from the Lord.
36 But those who don’t find me harm only themselves.
Everyone who hates me loves death.”
Wisdom and Foolishness Call Out
9 Wisdom has built her house.
She has set up its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine.
She has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servants.
She calls out from the highest point of the city.
4 She says, “Let all who are childish come to my house!”
She speaks to those who have no sense. She says,
5 “Come and eat my food.
Drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your childish ways and you will live.
Walk in the way of understanding.”
29 The people of Israel had faith. So they passed through the Red Sea. They went through it as if it were dry land. The Egyptians tried to do it also. But they drowned.
30 Israel’s army had faith. So the walls of Jericho fell down. It happened after they had marched around the city for seven days.
31 Rahab, the prostitute, had faith. So she welcomed the spies. That’s why she wasn’t killed with those who didn’t obey God.
32 What more can I say? I don’t have time to tell about all the others. I don’t have time to talk about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah. I don’t have time to tell about David and Samuel and the prophets. 33 Because of their faith they took over kingdoms. They ruled fairly. They received the blessings God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions. 34 They put out great fires. They escaped being killed by swords. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became powerful in battle. They beat back armies from other countries. 35 Women received back their dead. The dead were raised to life again. There were others who were made to suffer greatly. But they refused to be set free. They did this so that after death they would be raised to an even better life. 36 Some were made fun of and even whipped. Some were held by chains. Some were put in prison. 37 Some were killed with stones. Some were sawed in two. Some were killed by swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats. They were poor. They were attacked. They were treated badly. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains. They lived in caves. They lived in holes in the ground.
39 All these people were praised because they had faith. But none of them received what God had promised. 40 That’s because God had planned something better for us. So they would only be made perfect together with us.
12 A huge cloud of witnesses is all around us. So let us throw off everything that stands in our way. Let us throw off any sin that holds on to us so tightly. And let us keep on running the race marked out for us. 2 Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the one who started this journey of faith. And he is the one who completes the journey of faith. He paid no attention to the shame of the cross. He suffered there because of the joy he was looking forward to. Then he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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