Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The (B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)you worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
You (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And they will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [d]his evil desire.”
10 They hate him who (A)rebukes in the [a]gate,
And they (B)despise him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you impose heavy [b]rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (C)houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will (D)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are (E)hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And [c]turn away the poor from justice at the [d]gate.
13 Therefore at [e]such a time the prudent person (F)keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies be with you,
(G)Just as you have said!
15 (H)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the [f]gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of armies
(I)Will be gracious to the (J)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:
The Perfect High Priest
5 For every high priest (A)taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in (B)things pertaining to God, in order to (C)offer both gifts and sacrifices (D)for sins; 2 [a](E)he can deal gently with the (F)ignorant and (G)misguided, since he himself also is [b](H)clothed in weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices (I)for sins for himself, (J)as well as for the people. 4 And (K)no one takes the honor for himself, but receives it when he is called by God, just (L)as Aaron also was.
5 So too Christ (M)did not glorify Himself in becoming a (N)high priest, but it was He who (O)said to Him,
“(P)You are My Son,
Today I have fathered You”;
6 just as He also says in another passage,
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