Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK 3
The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.
A Psalm of Asaph.
73 Surely God is (A)good to Israel,
To those who are (B)pure in heart!
2 But as for me, (C)my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps [a]had almost slipped.
3 For I was (D)envious of the [b]arrogant
As I saw the (E)prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their [c]body is fat.
5 They are (F)not [d]in trouble as other [e]men,
Nor are they (G)plagued [f]like mankind.
6 Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
The (I)garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye [g]bulges from (J)fatness;
The imaginations of their heart [h]run riot.
8 They (K)mock and [i]wickedly speak of oppression;
They (L)speak from on high.
9 They have (M)set their mouth [j]against the heavens,
And their tongue [k]parades through the earth.
10 Therefore [l]his people return to this place,
And waters of (N)abundance are [m]drunk by them.
11 They say, “(O)How does God know?
And is there knowledge [n]with the Most High?”
12 Behold, (P)these are the wicked;
And always (Q)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely (R)in vain I have [o]kept my heart pure
And (S)washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken (T)all day long
And [p](U)chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the (V)generation of Your children.
16 When I (W)pondered to understand this,
It was [q]troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the [r](X)sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their (Y)end.
18 Surely You set them in (Z)slippery places;
You cast them down to [s](AA)destruction.
19 How they are [t](AB)destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by (AC)sudden terrors!
20 Like a (AD)dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (AE)aroused, You will (AF)despise their [u]form.
Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
11 A (A)false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
But a (B)just weight is His delight.
2 When (C)pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.
3 The (D)integrity of the upright will guide them,
But the (E)crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.
4 (F)Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
But (G)righteousness delivers from death.
5 The (H)righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,
But (I)the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will (J)be caught by their own greed.
7 When a wicked man dies, his (K)expectation will perish,
And the (L)hope of strong men perishes.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked [a]takes his place.
9 With his (M)mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
But through knowledge the (N)righteous will be delivered.
10 When it (O)goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
12 He who despises his neighbor lacks [b]sense,
But a man of understanding keeps silent.
13 He (P)who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is [c]trustworthy (Q)conceals a matter.
14 Where there is no (R)guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is [d]victory.
15 He who is (S)guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,
But he who hates [e]being a guarantor is secure.
16 A (T)gracious woman attains honor,
And ruthless men attain riches.
17 The (U)merciful man does [f]himself good,
But the cruel man [g]does himself harm.
18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
But he who (V)sows righteousness gets a true reward.
19 He who is steadfast in (W)righteousness will attain to life,
And (X)he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.
20 The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord,
But the (Y)blameless in their [h]walk are His (Z)delight.
21 [i]Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,
But the [j]descendants of the righteous will be delivered.
22 As a (AA)ring of gold in a swine’s snout
So is a beautiful woman who lacks [k]discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous is only good,
But the (AB)expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,
And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.
25 The [l](AC)generous man will be [m]prosperous,
And he who (AD)waters will himself be watered.
26 He who withholds grain, the (AE)people will curse him,
But (AF)blessing will be on the head of him who (AG)sells it.
27 He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,
But (AH)he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.
28 He who (AI)trusts in his riches will fall,
But (AJ)the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.
29 He who (AK)troubles his own house will (AL)inherit wind,
And (AM)the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted.
30 The fruit of the righteous is (AN)a tree of life,
And (AO)he who is wise [n]wins souls.
31 If (AP)the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,
How much more the wicked and the sinner!
3 For (A)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary [a](B)and lose heart.
A Father’s Discipline
4 (C)You have not yet resisted [b](D)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“(E)My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor (F)faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 (G)For those (H)whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; (I)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, (J)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had [c]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we (K)respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to (L)the Father of [d]spirits, and (M)live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, (N)so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline (O)for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the (P)peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, [e](Q)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and (R)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather (S)be healed.
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