Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 58
Do You Rulers Speak Justly?
Heading
For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[a] By David. A miktam.
Unjust Rulers
1 Do you “gods” really speak righteously?[b]
Do you sons of Adam judge rightly?
2 No, in your heart you commit injustices.
On the earth your hands distribute violence.
3 The wicked go off course already from the womb.
From the belly they go astray. They speak lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like a deaf cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not listen to the sound of the charmers,
however skillful the spellbinder may be.
The Curse on Unjust Rulers
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouths.
Tear out the fangs of the young lions, Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When he draws his bow, let his arrows be cut off.[c]
8 As a slug melts away as it crawls along, so let him disappear.
Like a stillborn child may they not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether the thorns are green or dry—they will be swept away.[d]
The Joy of the Righteous
10 The righteous one will be glad when he sees vengeance.
He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say, “Surely there is fruit for the righteous.
Surely there is a God judging on the earth.”
3 If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
can he return to her again?[a]
Wouldn’t acting like that completely defile the land?
But you have lived like a prostitute with many lovers.
And now you want to return to me?
declares the Lord.
2 Look up to the bare hills and see.
Is there any place where you have not engaged in sex?[b]
You sat by the roadsides waiting for lovers,
like a nomad[c] in the desert.
You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 That is why the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet you have the shameless look of a prostitute.
You refuse to be ashamed.
4 Did you not just call to me, “My father!
You are my close friend from my youth!”?
5 You say, “Will he be angry for so long?
Will he keep up his wrath forever?”
Yes, that is what you say,
but you do whatever evil you can.
Unfaithful Israel, Treacherous Judah
6 In the days of King Josiah, the Lord asked me:
Have you seen what unfaithful Israel did? She has gone up onto every high hill and under every green tree and acted like a prostitute there. 7 I told myself that after she did all this, she would return to me, but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 Unfaithful Israel committed adultery, so I sent her away. I gave her a certificate of divorce, yet I saw that in spite of this, her treacherous sister Judah had no fear. She also went and acted like a prostitute. 9 Since Israel regarded her sexual sins so lightly, she defiled the land by committing adultery with stones and trees. 10 In spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not turn back to me with all her heart, but only pretended, declares the Lord.
11 Then the Lord said to me:
Unfaithful Israel is more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12 Go, proclaim these words to the north.
Return, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord.
I will no longer frown on you,
because I am merciful, declares the Lord.
I will not be angry forever.
13 At least acknowledge your guilt.
Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God.
You have distributed your favors to strangers under every green tree,
and you have not listened to me, declares the Lord.
14 Return, unfaithful people, declares the Lord, because I am your husband. I will take you—one from a city, two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect people and the knowledge of the truth that conforms to godliness, 2 based on the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3 At the proper time he revealed this in his word, in the preaching that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true child in our common faith:
Grace[a] and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Titus’ Work in Crete
5 The reason I left you in Crete was so that you would set in order the things that were left unfinished and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you. 6 Such a man is to be blameless, the husband of only one wife, and to have believing children who are not open to a charge of wild living or disobedience. 7 Indeed an overseer, since he is God’s steward, must be blameless, not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not a drunkard, not violent, not eager for dishonest gain. 8 Instead, he must be hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, upright, devout, and disciplined. 9 He must cling to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he will be able both to encourage people by the sound teaching and also to correct[b] those who oppose him.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.