Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 52
Your Tongue Is a Razor
Heading
For the choir director. A maskil[a] by David.
When Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul
and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”[b]
Doeg’s Sin
1 Why do you boast about evil, you hero?
The mercy of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue plans destruction.
It is like a sharpened razor, you scheming liar.
3 You love evil rather than good. Interlude
You love lying rather than speaking what is right.
4 You lying tongue, you love every word that devours!
Doeg’s Judgment
5 But God will tear you down forever.
He will grab you and pull you out of your tent. Interlude
He will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 Then the righteous will see and fear.
Then they will laugh at him:
7 “Look, here is the man who did not make God his stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth.
He grew strong by his destructive deeds!”
David’s Delivery
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever because you have done this.
I will hope in your name in the presence of your favored ones
because it is good.
10 There are those who hate an arbitrator[a] in the city gate.[b]
They despise anyone who speaks honestly.
11 That is why you trample on the poor,
and you collect taxes on their grain.
You have built houses of cut stones,
but you will not live in them.
You have planted choice vineyards,
but you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know that your rebellious deeds are many,
and your sins are numerous,
you who are enemies of a righteous man,
you who take bribes.
They thrust away needy people in the city gate.
13 That is why a prudent man will be silent in that time,
because it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live,
and then it will be like this for you:
The Lord, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you claim.
15 Hate evil and love good.
Establish justice in the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says,
the God of Armies, who is the Lord:
In the city squares there will be grief,
and in the streets they will say, “Woe, woe!”
They will summon the farmer to mourn
and the professional mourners to sing laments.
17 In all the vineyards there will be grief,
because I will pass through your midst, says the Lord.
Our High Priest Is Like Melchizedek
5 To be sure, every high priest is chosen from the people and is appointed to represent the people in the things pertaining to God, so that he may offer gifts, as well as sacrifices, for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also weak in many ways. 3 And for this reason he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, just as he does for the people.
4 No one takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take the glory of becoming a high priest on himself, but God said to him:
You are my Son.
Today I have begotten you.[a]
6 He also said the same thing in another place:
You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek.[b]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.