Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.
14 (A)The (B)fool says in his heart, (C)“There is no God.”
They are (D)corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
(E)there is none who does good.
2 The Lord (F)looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,[a]
who (G)seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become (H)corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have they no (I)knowledge, all the evildoers
who (J)eat up my people as they eat bread
and (K)do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
for God is with (L)the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
but[b] the Lord is his (M)refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord (N)restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
4 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the Lord,
(A)to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
(B)and do not waver,
2 (C)and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then (D)nations shall bless themselves in him,
(E)and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
(F)“Break up your fallow ground,
and (G)sow not among thorns.
4 (H)Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
(I)lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
(J)because of the evil of your deeds.”
Disaster from the North
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
(K)“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
(L)‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 (M)Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from (N)the north,
(O)and great destruction.
7 (P)A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
(Q)without inhabitant.
8 For this (R)put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for (S)the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, (T)courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, (U)surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
False Prophets and Teachers
2 But (A)false prophets also arose among the people, (B)just as there will be false teachers among you, who will (C)secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master (D)who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth (E)will be blasphemed. 3 And (F)in their greed they will exploit you (G)with false words. (H)Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare (I)angels when they sinned, but (J)cast them into hell[a] and committed them to chains[b] of gloomy darkness (K)to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but (L)preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought (M)a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by (N)turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, (O)making them an example of (P)what is going to happen to the ungodly;[c] 7 and (Q)if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, (R)he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then (S)the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially (T)those who indulge[e] in the lust of defiling passion and (U)despise authority.
Bold and willful, they do not tremble (V)as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.