Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 58
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David.
1 Do you truly speak righteousness, O heavenly gods?
Do you judge uprightly, O earthly men?
2 Indeed, in the heart you work wickedness;
you weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb onward;
those who speak lies go astray from birth.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
they are like the deaf adder that plugs its ear,
5 and will not listen to the voice of charmers,
even the best and wisest enchanter.
6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God;
break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
7 May they melt away as waters which run continually;
when he bends his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be trodden under.
8 May they become as a snail that melts as it goes,
like the untimely birth of a woman, may they not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns’ heat, green or burning,
may He sweep them away.
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
11 and people will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”
15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 It shall come to pass when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will say no more, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they call for it, nor will it be made any more. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem, the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given to your fathers for an inheritance.
19 But I said:
How can I put you among My sons
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful heritage of the nations?
And I said: You shall call Me, My Father,
and shall not turn away from Me.
20 Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,
so you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,
says the Lord.
21 A voice was heard upon the high places,
the weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel,
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 Return, O backsliding sons,
and I will heal your backslidings.
“We come to You;
for You are the Lord our God.
23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
and from the multitude of mountains.
Truly, in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 For shame has devoured the labor
of our fathers from our youth,
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
25 We lie down in our shame,
and our humiliation covers us.
For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
we and our fathers,
from our youth even to this day,
and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
The Parable of the Great Banquet(A)
15 When one of those who sat at dinner with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
16 Then He said to him, “A man prepared a banquet and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now prepared.’
18 “But they all with one mind began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to prove them. I ask you to excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
21 “The servant came and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’
22 “The servant said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and yet there is room.’
23 “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.