Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 10
Break the Arm of the Wicked Man
An Opening Appeal for Action
1 Why, Lord, do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
A Portrait of the Wicked
2 Because of the pride of the wicked, the oppressed burn.[a]
They are caught in the schemes that the wicked plan.
3 Yes, the wicked man boasts about his heart’s desires.
He blesses the robber. He despises the Lord.[b]
4 With his nose in the air, the wicked does not seek God.
There is no room at all for God in his thoughts.
5 His ways are prosperous all the time.
He is haughty. Your judgments do not concern him.
He snorts at all of his foes.
6 He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken.
Through age after age I will have no trouble.”
7 Cursing fills his mouth, along with lies and threats.
Trouble and evil lie under his tongue.
8 He waits in ambush by the villages.
In hidden places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are spying on the helpless.
9 He lies in ambush. He hides like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed by dragging them in his net.
10 The helpless are crushed. They sink down.
They fall under his strength.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He never sees.”
An Appeal for Divine Justice
12 Rise up, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why does the wicked man despise God?
Why does he say in his heart,
“You do not seek justice”?
14 But you do see. You notice trouble and grief.
You take it into your own hands.
The helpless one abandons himself to you.
For the fatherless you are indeed a helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked.
You pursue the wickedness of the evil man
until you find no more.[c]
Confidence in Divine Justice
16 The Lord is King forever and ever.
The nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.
You strengthen their hearts,
and your ear pays attention,
18 to obtain justice for the fatherless and the crushed,
so that the worldly man[d] may no longer terrify.
27 So say all these things to them, but they will not listen to you. Call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 Say to them, “This is the nation that did not obey the Lord its God or accept discipline. Faithfulness has perished, and it has disappeared from their lips. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation under his wrath.”
30 The people of Judah have committed evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They set up their disgusting idols in the house that bears my Name, and they have defiled it. 31 They built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—a thing I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.
32 That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord, when that place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth because there will be no other place left. 33 The corpses of those people will become food for the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the land, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34 In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will bring the sounds of joy and happiness to an end, as well as the voices of groom and bride, for the land will become desolate.
Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand
6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 The experts in the law and the Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. They wanted to find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he always knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up and step forward.”[a] He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 He looked around at all of them and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored. 11 They were filled with rage and began discussing with one another what they could do to Jesus.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.