Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ You sit as the Holy One.
    The praises of Israel are your throne.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted you;
    they trusted, and you saved them.
⁵ They called to you for help
    and were rescued.
They trusted you
    and were not disappointed.

⁶ But I am like a worm instead of a man.
    People make fun of me and hate me.
⁷ Those who look at me laugh.
    They stick out their tongues and shake their heads.
⁸ They say, “Turn to the Lord for help.
    Maybe he will save you.
If he likes you,
    maybe he will rescue you.”

⁹ You had my mother give birth to me.
    You made me trust you
    while I was just a baby.
¹⁰ I have leaned on you since the day I was born;
    you have been my God since my mother gave me birth.
¹¹ So don’t be far away from me.
    Now trouble is near,
    and there is no one to help.
¹² People have surrounded me like angry bulls.
    Like the strong bulls of Bashan, they are on every side.
¹³ Like hungry, roaring lions
    they open their mouths at me.
¹⁴ My strength is gone,
    like water poured out onto the ground,
    and my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax;
    it has melted inside me.
¹⁵ My strength has dried up like a clay pot,
    and my tongue sticks to the top of my mouth.
    You laid me in the dust of death.

³ “God, make me a promise.
    No one will make a pledge for me.
⁴ You have closed their minds to understanding.
    Do not let them win over me.
⁵ People might speak against their friends for money,
    but if they do, the eyes of their children go blind.

⁶ “God has made my name a curse word;
    people spit in my face.
⁷ My sight has grown weak because of my sadness,
    and my body is as thin as a shadow.
⁸ Honest people are upset about this;
    innocent people are upset with those who do wrong.
⁹ But those who do right will continue to do right,
    and those whose hands are not dirty with sin will grow stronger.

¹⁰ “But, all of you, come and try again!
    I do not find a wise person among you.
¹¹ My days are gone, and my plans have been destroyed,
    along with the desires of my heart.
¹² These men think night is day;
    when it is dark, they say, ‘Light is near.’
¹³ If the only home I hope for is the grave,
    if I spread out my bed in darkness,
¹⁴ if I say to the grave, ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm, ‘You are my mother’ or ‘You are my sister,’
¹⁵ where, then, is my hope?
    Who can see any hope for me?
¹⁶ Will hope go down to the gates of death?
    Will we go down together into the dust?”

“Today listen to what he says.
⁸ Do not be stubborn as in the past
    when you turned against God,
when you tested God in the desert.
⁹ There your ancestors tried me and tested me
    and saw the things I did for forty years.
¹⁰ I was angry with them.
    I said, ‘They are not loyal to me
    and have not understood my ways.’
¹¹ I was angry and made a promise,
    ‘They will never enter my rest.’”^[a] Psalm 95:7–11

“Today listen to what he says.
    Do not be stubborn as in the past
    when you turned against God.” Psalm 95:7–8