Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil
10 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride [a]persecutes the poor;
(A)Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (B)boasts of his heart’s desire;
[b]He (C)blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
[c]God is in none of his (D)thoughts.
5 His ways [d]are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
6 (E)He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
(F)I shall never be in adversity.”
7 (G)His mouth is full of cursing and (H)deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
9 He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 So [e]he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his [f]strength.
11 He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”
12 Arise, O Lord!
O God, (I)lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the (J)humble.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”
27 “Therefore (A)you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.
Judgment on Obscene Religion
28 “So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God (B)nor receive correction. (C)Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. 29 (D)Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’ 30 For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord. (E)“They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to [a]pollute it. 31 And they have built the (F)high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to (G)burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, (H)which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
32 “Therefore behold, (I)the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; (J)for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. 33 The (K)corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. 34 Then I will cause to (L)cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For (M)the land shall be desolate.
Healing on the Sabbath(A)
6 (B)Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would (C)heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an (D)accusation against Him. 8 But He (E)knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: (F)Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or [a]to destroy?” 10 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to [b]the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored [c]as whole as the other. 11 But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.