Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³ I beg You; don’t punish me with the most heinous men.
    They spend their days doing evil.
Even when they engage their neighbors in pleasantness,
    they are scheming against them.
⁴ Pay them back for their deeds;
    hold them accountable for their malice.
Give them what they deserve.
⁵ Because these are people who have no respect for You, O Eternal,
    they ignore everything You have done.
So He will tear them down with His powerful hands;
    never will they be built again.

⁶ The Eternal should be honored and revered;
    He has heard my cries for help.
⁷ The Eternal is the source of my strength and the shield that guards me.
    When I learn to rest and truly trust Him,
He sends His help. This is why my heart is singing!
    I open my mouth to praise Him, and thankfulness rises as song.

⁸ The Eternal gives life and power to all His chosen ones;
    to His anointed He is a sturdy fortress.
⁹ Rescue Your people, and bring prosperity to Your legacy;
    may they know You as a shepherd, carrying them at all times.

⁹ People: That’s why we can’t make things right;
        good and true can’t gain any ground on us.
    We look earnestly for a bright spot, but there isn’t
        even a glimmer of hope; it’s darkness all around.
¹⁰     We are left to stumble along, grabbing at whatever seems solid,
        like the blind finding their way down a strange and threatening street.
    In broad daylight—when we should have sight—we stumble and fall as in the dark.
        We are already like the dead among those brimming with health.
¹¹     We growl like bears and moan like doves.
        We hope that maybe, just maybe, it will all turn out right;
    But it doesn’t. We look for liberation, but it’s too far away.
¹²     For our wrongdoing runs too deep before You.
        Our sins stack up against us—sure evidence of our guilt.
    For our offenses are always with us; they are insidious and lasting, as You know.
        Our guilt says it all. We know it, too.
¹³     We took You for nothing, and did just the opposite of Your commands.
        We broke our promises to You, ignored and rejected You.
    We hatched up schemes to oppress others and rebel, to twist the truth for our gain
        while presenting it as honest-to-God fact.
¹⁴     When justice calls, we turn it away.
        Righteousness knows to keep its distance,
    For truth stumbles in the public square,
        and honesty is not allowed to enter.
¹⁵     There is no truth-telling anymore,
        and anyone who tries to do right finds he is the next target.

It’s true. The Eternal One saw it all
    and was understandably perturbed at the absence of justice.
¹⁶ God looked long and hard, but there wasn’t a single person
    who tried to put a stop to the injustice and lies.
So God took action. His own strong arm reached out and brought salvation.
    His own righteousness—good and pure—sustained Him.
¹⁷ But God’s equipment was that of no ordinary warrior:
    He strapped on righteousness as His breastplate,
And put on the helmet of salvation.
    Wrapped in vengeance for clothing and passion as a cloak, God prepared for war.
¹⁸ Finally, God determined they must get what they’ve earned:
    fury to those who oppose Him, vengeance against those who are against Him.
To the ends of the known world, God will go to render justice.
¹⁹ This is how people from east to west will come to respect the name
    and honor the glory of the Eternal.
For He will come on like a torrential flood driven by the Eternal’s winds.

See here—I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone, chosen and precious;
Whoever depends upon Him will never be disgraced.^[a]

The stone that the builders rejected
    has been laid as the cornerstone—the very stone that holds together the entire foundation,^[b]

A stone that blocks their way,
    a rock that trips them.^[c]