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.
18 Nevertheless in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. 19 It shall come to pass when they say, “Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?” then you shall answer them, “As you have forsaken Me and served strange gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.”
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob
and publish it in Judah, saying:
21 Hear this now, O foolish people and without understanding,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not fear Me? says the Lord.
Will you not tremble at My presence?
For I have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea
by a perpetual decree so that it cannot pass over it.
And though the waves toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail;
though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart;
they have revolted and gone aside.
24 They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season.
He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
25 Your iniquities have turned away these things,
and your sins have withheld good things from you.
26 For among My people are found wicked men.
They lie in wait, as he who sets snares;
they set a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds,
so are their houses full of deceit.
Therefore they have become great and rich.
28 They are fat, they are sleek.
Indeed, they excel in deeds of wickedness.
They do not judge the cause of the fatherless,
so that they may prosper;
and the right of the needy they do not defend.
29 Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the Lord.
Shall not My soul be avenged
on such a nation as this?
30 An appalling and horrible thing
has been committed in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule by their own authority;
and My people love to have it so.
Yet what will you do in the end?
8 But, beloved, do not be ignorant of this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness. But He is patient with us, because He does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. The earth also and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things are to be destroyed, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 while you are waiting for and desiring the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will be consumed by intense heat? 13 But, according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.