Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Who Judges the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to (A)Do Not Destroy. A (B)Miktam[a] of David.
58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[b]
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands (C)deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are (D)estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 (E)They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it (F)does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, (G)break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them (H)vanish like water that runs away;
when he (I)aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail (J)that dissolves into slime,
like (K)the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of (L)thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he (M)sweep them away![c]
23 (A)How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way (B)in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
24 (C)a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
in her month they will find her.
25 Keep (D)your feet from going unshod
and (E)your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
(F)for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go.’
26 “As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
(G)they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
and not their face.
But (H)in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
28 But (I)where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, (J)if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for (K)as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29 “Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me,
declares the Lord.
30 In vain have I (L)struck your children;
they took no correction;
(M)your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
we will come no more to you’?
32 (N)Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet (O)my people have forgotten me
days without number.
33 “How well you direct your course
to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
(P)the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them (Q)breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.’
(R)Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for (S)saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 (T)How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be (U)put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 From it too you will come away
with (V)your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
7 Remember (A)your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and (B)imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is (C)the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be (D)led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, (E)not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar (F)from which those who serve the tent[a] have no right to eat. 11 For (G)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned (H)outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also (I)suffered (J)outside the gate in order to sanctify the people (K)through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear (L)the reproach he endured. 14 For (M)here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 (N)Through him then let us continually offer up (O)a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, (P)the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and (Q)to share what you have, for such (R)sacrifices are pleasing to God.
17 Obey (S)your leaders and submit to them, (T)for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to (U)give an account. (V)Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
18 (W)Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order (X)that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Benediction
20 Now (Y)may the God of peace (Z)who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, (AA)the great shepherd of the sheep, by (AB)the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 (AC)equip you with everything good that you may do his will, (AD)working in us[b] that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, (AE)to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.