Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
He Will Not Abandon His People
Psalm 94
1 God of vengeance, Adonai,
God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth!
Pay back to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long will the wicked, Adonai,
how long will the wicked gloat?
4 They gush out, they speak arrogance—
all the evildoers keep boasting.
5 They crush Your people, Adonai,
and afflict Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the outsider,
and murder the fatherless.
7 So they say: “Adonai does not see—
the God of Jacob pays no attention.”
8 Pay attention, stupid among the people!
Fools, when will you comprehend?
9 He who planted the ear, does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, does He not see?
10 He who chastens nations, will He not rebuke—
One who teaches humanity knowledge?
11 Adonai knows human thoughts—
they are but a breath.
12 Blessed is the one You discipline, Adonai,
and teach him from Your Torah,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble
—until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For Adonai will not forsake His people.
He will never abandon His inheritance.[a]
15 For rightness will be restored to justice,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 Unless Adonai had been my help,
my soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
18 If I say: “My foot has slipped,”
Your mercy, Adonai, will hold me up.
19 When my troubling thoughts multiply within me,
Your consolations comfort my soul.
20 Can a throne of corruption be aligned
with You—planning distress by decree?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous,
and condemn innocent blood.[b]
22 But Adonai has been my fortress
and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will repay them for their wickedness,
and will annihilate them in their evil.
Adonai our God will annihilate them.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares Adonai, “I will not completely destroy you. 19 So it will come to pass that when you ask, ‘Why has Adonai Eloheinu done all these things to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
and proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 ‘Hear this you foolish people
who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not fear Me?’ says Adonai.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?’
For I made the sand a boundary of the sea,
an everlasting decree that cannot be broken.
Though the waves roll, they cannot prevail.
Though they roar, they cannot cross it.
23 But this people have a stubborn and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their heart,
‘Let us now fear Adonai Eloheinu,
who gives rain in its season
—fall rain and spring rain—
who reserves for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
your sins have deprived you of bounty.
26 For among My people are wicked men,
watching like bait-layers lying in wait.
They set a trap—they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds,
so are their houses full of deceit.
That is why they grew great and rich.
28 They grew fat and sleek.
They also overlooked evil deeds.
They do not uphold a cause
—the cause of an orphan to prosper—
nor do they defend the right of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them?” says Adonai.
“On such a nation
should I not avenge Myself?
30 An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
the kohanim rule by their own authority,
and My people love it this way!
But what will you do in the end?”
8 But don’t forget this one thing, loved ones, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. [a] 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some consider slowness.[b] Rather, He is being patient toward you—not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.[c] On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will melt and disintegrate, and the earth and everything done on it shall be exposed. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Live your lives in holiness and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. In that day the heavens will be dissolved by fire, and the elements will melt in the intense heat. [d] 13 But in keeping with His promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.[e]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.