Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Will Not Forsake His People
94 O Lord, God of (A)vengeance,
O God of vengeance, (B)shine forth!
2 (C)Rise up, O (D)judge of the earth;
repay to the (E)proud what they deserve!
3 O Lord, (F)how long shall the wicked,
how long shall (G)the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their (H)arrogant words;
all (I)the evildoers boast.
5 They (J)crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill (K)the widow and the sojourner,
and murder (L)the fatherless;
7 (M)and they say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8 (N)Understand, O dullest of the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
9 (O)He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who (P)disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who (Q)teaches man knowledge—
11 (R)the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are (S)but a breath.[a]
12 (T)Blessed is the man whom you (U)discipline, O Lord,
and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him (V)rest from (W)days of trouble,
until (X)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 (Y)For the Lord will not forsake his (Z)people;
he will not abandon his (AA)heritage;
15 for (AB)justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will (AC)follow it.
16 (AD)Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 (AE)If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of (AF)silence.
18 When I thought, (AG)“My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, (AH)held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can (AI)wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who frame[b] injustice by (AJ)statute?
21 They (AK)band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn (AL)the innocent to death.[c]
22 But the Lord has become my (AM)stronghold,
and my God (AN)the rock of my (AO)refuge.
23 He will bring back on them (AP)their iniquity
and (AQ)wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.
18 “But even in those days, declares the Lord, (A)I will not make a full end of you. 19 And when your people say, (B)‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, (C)so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
21 “Hear this, (D)O foolish and senseless people,
(E)who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22 (F)Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand (G)as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though (H)they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23 (I)But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
(J)who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
(K)the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 (L)Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
(M)they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.[a]
(N)They set a trap;
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 (O)they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
(P)they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 (Q)Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and (A)a thousand years as one day. 9 (B)The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise (C)as some count slowness, but (D)is patient toward you,[a] (E)not wishing that any should perish, but (F)that all should reach repentance. 10 But (G)the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then (H)the heavens will pass away with a roar, and (I)the heavenly bodies[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.[c]
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, (J)what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 (K)waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and (L)the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for (M)new heavens and a new earth (N)in which righteousness dwells.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.