Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 13

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ How long will You forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?

² How long must I lay up cares within me and have sorrow in my heart day after day? How long shall my enemy exalt himself over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten the eyes [of my faith to behold Your face in the pitchlike darkness], lest I sleep the sleep of death,

⁴ Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted, leaned on, and been confident in Your mercy and loving-kindness; my heart shall rejoice and be in high spirits in Your salvation.

⁶ I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court

⁶ And said, O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You.

⁷ Did not You, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?

⁸ They dwelt in it and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying,

⁹ If evil comes upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You—for Your Name [and the symbol of Your presence] is in this house—and cry to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.

¹⁰ And now behold, the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they turned from and did not destroy—^(A)

¹¹ Behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

¹² O our God, will You not exercise judgment upon them? For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.

⁷ You were running the race nobly. Who has interfered in (hindered and stopped you from) your heeding and following the Truth?

⁸ This [evil] persuasion is not from Him Who called you [Who invited you to freedom in Christ].

⁹ A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church].

¹⁰ [For my part] I have confidence [toward you] in the Lord that you will take no contrary view of the matter but will come to think with me. But he who is unsettling you, whoever he is, will have to bear the penalty.

¹¹ But, brethren, if I still preach circumcision [as some accuse me of doing, as necessary to salvation], why am I still suffering persecution? In that case the cross has ceased to be a stumbling block and is made meaningless (done away).

¹² I wish those who unsettle and confuse you would [^[a]go all the way and] cut themselves off!