Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 14
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director. Of David.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”(A)
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race[a](B)
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.(C)
4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume my people as they consume bread;(D)
they do not call on the Lord.(E)
Blessing or Curse
4 If you return,[a] Israel—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will return to me,(A)
if you remove your abhorrent idols(B)
from my presence
and do not waver,
2 then you can swear, “As the Lord lives,”(C)
in truth,(D) justice, and righteousness,(E)
and then the nations will be blessed[b] by him(F)
and will boast in him.(G)
3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
Break up the unplowed ground;(H)
do not sow among the thorns.(I)
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,(J)
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it(K)
because of your evil deeds.
Judgment from the North
5 Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.(L)
Cry out loudly and say,
“Assemble yourselves,
and let’s flee to the fortified cities.”
6 Lift up a signal flag toward Zion.(M)
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north—
a crushing blow.(N)
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket;(O)
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to make your land a waste.
Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.(P)
8 Because of this, put on sackcloth;
mourn and wail,(Q)
for the Lord’s burning anger(R)
has not turned away from us.
9 “On that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
10 I said, “Oh no, Lord God, you have certainly deceived(S) this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’(T) while a sword is at[c] our throats.”
The Judgment of False Teachers
2 There were indeed false prophets(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers(B) among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought(C) them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.(D) 3 They will exploit(E) you in their greed(F) with made-up stories. Their condemnation,(G) pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
4 For if God didn’t spare(H) the angels who sinned but cast them into hell[a](I) and delivered them in chains[b] of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;(J) 5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah,(K) a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,[c](L) when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah(M) to ashes and condemned them to extinction,[d] making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;(N) 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot,(O) distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard(P))— 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue(Q) the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,(R) 10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.(S)
Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;
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