Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Faith in the Lord’s Righteousness
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
11 In (A)the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For look! (B)The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot [a]secretly at the upright in heart.
3 (C)If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s (D)throne is in heaven;
(E)His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord (F)tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
(G)Shall be [b]the portion of their cup.
Impending Judgment on the Earth
24 Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.
2 And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the (A)priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
(B)As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.
3 The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For the Lord has spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The (C)haughty[a] people of the earth languish.
5 (D)The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have (E)transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the (F)everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore (G)the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are [b]desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are (H)burned,
And few men are left.
7 (I)The new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The mirth (J)of the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
11 There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.
13 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
(K)It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.
The Faith of the Patriarchs(A)
17 By faith Abraham, (B)when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 [a]of whom it was said, (C)“In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God (D)was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
20 By faith (E)Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, (F)blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22 By faith (G)Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
The Faith of Moses(H)
23 By faith (I)Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s (J)command.
24 By faith (K)Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the [b]passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming (L)the [c]reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures [d]in Egypt; for he looked to the (M)reward.
27 By faith (N)he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith (O)he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.