Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 91
The Protection of the Most High
1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High
dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.(A)
3 He Himself will deliver you from the hunter’s net,(C)
from the destructive plague.
4 He will cover you with His feathers;
you will take refuge under His wings.(D)
His faithfulness will be a protective shield.(E)
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
the arrow that flies by day,(F)
6 the plague that stalks in darkness,
or the pestilence that ravages at noon.(G)
False Prophets Condemned
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,(A)
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;(B)
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life[a] has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
11 because both prophet and priest are ungodly,(C)
even in My house I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 Therefore, their way will be to them
like slippery paths in the gloom.(D)
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by[b] Baal
and led My people Israel astray.(E)
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom(F) to Me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:
I am about to feed them wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink,(G)
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness[c] has spread throughout the land.
16 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth. 17 They keep on saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said: You will have peace.’(H) They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”
18 For who has stood in the council(I) of the Lord
to see and hear His word?
Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?
19 Look, a storm from the Lord!(J)
Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
20 The Lord’s anger will not turn back
until He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.
In time to come you will understand it clearly.(K)
21 I did not send these prophets,(L)
yet they ran with a message.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 If they had really stood in My council,
they would have enabled My people to hear My words
and would have turned them back from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.
8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich,(A) for your sake He became poor,(B) so that by His poverty you might become rich. 10 Now I am giving an opinion on this because it is profitable for you, who a year ago began not only to do something but also to desire it.[a](C) 11 But now finish the task[b] as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.(D) 13 It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality[c]— 14 at the present time your surplus is available for their need, so their abundance may also become available for our need, so there may be equality. 15 As it has been written:
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