Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK 3
A Psalm by Asaph.
73 Surely God[a] is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone.
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no struggles in their death,
but their strength is firm.
5 They are free from burdens of men,
neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck.
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge with fat.
Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
8 They scoff and speak with malice.
In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
9 They have set their mouth in the heavens.
Their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore their people return to them,
and they drink up waters of abundance.
11 They say, “How does God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked.
Being always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
and washed my hands in innocence,
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
and punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus”,
behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 When I tried to understand this,
it was too painful for me—
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary,
and considered their latter end.
18 Surely you set them in slippery places.
You throw them down to destruction.
19 How they are suddenly destroyed!
They are completely swept away with terrors.
20 As a dream when one wakes up,
so, Lord,[b] when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
11 A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh,
but accurate weights are his delight.
2 When pride comes, then comes shame,
but with humility comes wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them,
but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.
4 Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way,
but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them,
but the unfaithful will be trapped by evil desires.
7 When a wicked man dies, hope perishes,
and expectation of power comes to nothing.
8 A righteous person is delivered out of trouble,
and the wicked takes his place.
9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.
10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.
When the wicked perish, there is shouting.
11 By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted,
but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
12 One who despises his neighbor is void of wisdom,
but a man of understanding holds his peace.
13 One who brings gossip betrays a confidence,
but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret.
14 Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls,
but in the multitude of counselors there is victory.
15 He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it,
but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.
16 A gracious woman obtains honor,
but violent men obtain riches.
17 The merciful man does good to his own soul,
but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.
18 Wicked people earn deceitful wages,
but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
19 He who is truly righteous gets life.
He who pursues evil gets death.
20 Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh,
but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
21 Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished,
but the offspring[a] of the righteous will be delivered.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout,
is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous is only good.
The expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is one who scatters, and increases yet more.
There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat.
He who waters shall be watered also himself.
26 People curse someone who withholds grain,
but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.
27 He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,
but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him.
28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.
29 He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind.
The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.
He who is wise wins souls.
31 Behold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
3 For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. 5 You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children,
“My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when you are reproved by him;
6 for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”(A)
7 It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. 9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. 11 All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, (B) 13 and make straight paths for your feet,(C) so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
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