Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David.
28 To you, O Lord, I call;
(A)my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you (B)be silent to me,
I become like those who (C)go down to the pit.
2 (D)Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I (E)lift up my hands
(F)toward your most holy sanctuary.[a]
3 Do not (G)drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
(H)who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 (I)Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
(J)render them their due reward.
5 Because they (K)do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
(A)we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 (B)We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
(C)among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
(D)we moan and moan like doves;
(E)we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
(F)speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
Judgment and Redemption
14 (G)Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him[a]
that there was no justice.
16 (H)He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 (I)He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in (J)zeal as a cloak.
18 (K)According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
(L)to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 (M)So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
(N)for he will come like a rushing stream,[b]
which the wind of the Lord drives.
A Living Stone and a Holy People
2 (A)So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 (B)Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual (C)milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have (D)tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone (E)rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 (F)you yourselves like living stones are being built up as (G)a spiritual house, to be (H)a holy priesthood, (I)to offer spiritual sacrifices (J)acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
(K)“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
(L)and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who (M)believe, but for those who (N)do not believe,
8 and
(P)“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, (Q)as they were destined to do.
9 But you are (R)a chosen race, (S)a royal (T)priesthood, (U)a holy nation, (V)a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you (W)out of darkness into (X)his marvelous light. 10 (Y)Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.