Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
14 1 He describeth the perverse nature of men, which were so grown to licentiousness, that God was brought to utter contempt. 7 For the which thing, although he was greatly grieved, yet being persuaded that God would send some present remedy, he comforteth himself and others.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 The (A)fool hath said in his heart, [a]There is no God: they have [b]corrupted, and done an abominable work: there is none that doeth good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that would understand, and seek God.
3 [c]All are gone out of the way: they are all corrupt: there is none that doeth good, no not one.
4 Do not all the workers of iniquity know that they eat up my people, as they eat bread? they call not upon the Lord.
5 [d]There they shall be taken with fear, because God is in the generation of the just.
6 You have made [e]a mock at the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his trust.
7 Oh give salvation unto [f]Israel out of Zion: when the Lord turneth the captivity of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Note that of Psalm 14:5-7, which are put into the common translation, and may seem unto some to be left out in this, are not in the same Psalm in the Hebrew text, but rather are put in more fully to express the manners of the wicked, and are gathered out of Psalms 5, 10, 36, 140; Isa. 59, and are alleged by S. Paul, and placed together in Romans 3.
4 1 True repentance. 4 He exhorteth to the circumcision of the heart. 5 The destruction of Judah is prophesied for the malice of their hearts. 19 The Prophet lamenteth it.
1 O Israel, if thou return, [a]return unto me, saith the Lord: and if thou put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2 And thou shalt [b]swear, The Lord liveth in truth, in judgment and in righteousness, and the nations shall be blessed in him, and shall glory in him.
3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah, and to Jerusalem,
4 Break up [c]your fallow ground, and sow not among the thorns: be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my wrath come forth like fire, and burn, that none can quench it, because of the wickedness of your inventions.
5 [d]Declare in Judah, and show forth in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the trumpet in the land: cry, and gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities.
6 Set up the standard in Zion: [e]prepare to flee, and stay not: for I will bring a plague from the North, and a great destruction.
7 The [f]lion is come up from his den, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is departed, and gone forth of his place to lay thy land waste, and thy cities shall be destroyed without an inhabitant.
8 Wherefore gird you with sackcloth: lament, and howl, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9 And in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes and the Priests shall be astonished, and the [g]Prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God, surely thou hast [h]deceived this people, and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace, and the sword pierceth unto the heart.
2 1 He foretelleth them of false teachers, 13 whose wicked sleights and destruction he declareth. 12 He compareth them to bruit beasts, 17 and to wells without water, 20 because they seek to withdraw men from God to their old filthiness.
1 But [a]there were false prophets also among the [b]people, even as there shall be false teachers among you: which privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that hath bought them, and bring upon themselves swift damnation.
2 [c]And many shall follow their destructions, by whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 [d]And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make [e]merchandise of you, [f]whose condemnation long since resteth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the (A)Angels that had sinned, but cast them down into [g]hell, and delivered them into [h]chains of darkness, to be kept unto damnation:
5 Neither hath spared the [i]old world, but saved (B)Noah the eighth person a [j]preacher of righteousness, and brought in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly,
6 And (C)turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them and overthrew them, and made them an ensample unto them that after should live ungodly,
7 And delivered just Lot vexed with the uncleanly conversation of the wicked:
8 (For he being righteous, and dwelling among them, in [k]seeing and hearing, [l]vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.)
9 The Lord [m]knoweth to deliver the godly out of tentation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment under punishment:
10 [n]And chiefly them that walk after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, which are bold, and stand in their own conceit, and fear not to speak evil of them that are in [o]dignity.
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