Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ The wicked are not like this;
instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.^(F)
5 Therefore the wicked will not survive^[f] the judgment,^(G)
and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,^(H)
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.^(I)

¹⁸ Three things are beyond me;
four I can’t understand:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship at sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.

²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”^(A)

²¹ The earth trembles under three things;
it cannot bear up under four:
²² a servant when he becomes king,^(B)
a fool when he is stuffed with food,
²³ an unloved woman when she marries,^(C)
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

²⁴ Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ the ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;^(D)
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;^(E)
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;^(F)
28 a lizard^[a] can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

²⁹ Three things are stately in their stride,
even four are stately in their walk:
³⁰ a lion, which is mightiest among beasts
and doesn’t retreat before anything,
³¹ a strutting rooster,^[b] a goat,
and a king at the head of his army.^[c]

³² If you have been foolish by exalting yourself
or if you’ve been scheming,
put your hand over your mouth.^(G)
33 For the churning of milk produces butter,
and twisting a nose draws blood,
and stirring up anger produces strife.^(H)

The Liberator will come from Zion;
He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.
²⁷ And this will be My covenant with them^(F)[b]
when I take away their sins.^(G)[c]