Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 94
1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs;
O God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
render to the proud what they deserve.
3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They spew forth their arrogant words;
all those who do iniquity boast.
5 They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,
and afflict Your inheritance.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
neither does the God of Jacob regard it.”
8 Understand, you brutish among the people;
fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who made the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He who chastises the nations, shall He not correct?
He teaches people knowledge!
11 The Lord, He knows the thoughts of people,
that they are a breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord,
and teach from Your law,
13 that You may give him rest from the days of adversity,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not forsake His people;
neither will He abandon His inheritance.
15 But justice shall return to those who are righteous,
and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against those who do iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
my soul would have lived in the land of silent death.
18 When I said, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, held me up.
19 When there is a multitude of worries within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall wicked rulers, who make oppressive laws,
align with You?
21 They conspire together against the life of the righteous
and condemn innocent blood to death.
22 But the Lord is my defense,
and my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 He shall bring upon them their own iniquity
and shall cut them off for their own wickedness;
yes, the Lord our God shall destroy them.
The Justice of God’s Judgment
5 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
see now and know;
seek in the open places
if you can find a man,
if there is any who executes justice, who seeks the truth,
that I may pardon her.
2 Though they say, “The Lord lives,”
surely they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, are not Your eyes upon the truth?
You have stricken them, but they have not grieved.
You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction.
They have made their faces harder than a rock;
they have refused to return.
4 Therefore I said, “Surely these are the poor.
They are foolish;
for they know not the way of the Lord
or the judgment of their God.
5 I will go to the great men
and will speak to them,
for they have known the way of the Lord
and the judgment of their God.”
But these have altogether broken the yoke
and burst the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion out of the forest will slay them,
and a wolf from the deserts will destroy them;
a leopard will watch over their cities.
Everyone who goes out from there will be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many
and their backslidings have increased.
7 How shall I pardon you for this?
Your children have forsaken Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,
then they committed adultery
and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
8 They were as fed horses in the morning;
everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish for these things? says the Lord,
and shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go up upon her walls and destroy,
but make not a full end.
Take away her battlements.
For they are not the Lord’s.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have dealt very treacherously against Me,
says the Lord.
12 They have lied about the Lord,
and said, “Not He.
Neither shall evil come upon us,
nor shall we see sword or famine.”
13 And the prophets shall become wind,
and the word is not in them.
Thus it shall be done to them!
14 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Hosts:
Because you speak this word,
indeed I will make My words in your mouth fire
and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
15 Truly, I will bring a nation upon you from far,
O house of Israel, says the Lord.
It is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
nor do you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is as an open sepulcher,
they all are mighty men.
17 They will eat up your harvest and your bread
which your sons and your daughters should eat.
They will eat up your flocks and your herds;
they will eat up your vines and your fig trees;
they will impoverish your fenced cities,
in which you trusted, with the sword.
18 This command I commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies that were previously given to you, that by them you might fight a good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.