Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Fool Denies God
Psalm 53
1 For the music director: on Mahalath, a contemplative song of David.
2 The fool says in his heart:
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, commit vile injustice.
There is no one who does good.
3 God looks down from the heavens
on the children of men,
to see if anyone understands,
who seeks after God.
4 All have turned aside—
together they have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good—
no, not even one!
5 Will the evildoers never learn?
They consume My people as they would eat bread,
and never call upon God.
6 There they are in great dread—
where there is nothing to fear.
For God has scattered the bones of those besieging you.
You have put them to shame,
for God has rejected them.
7 Who will give salvation for Israel out of Zion?
When God restores His captive people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!
10 Then the word of Adonai came to Samuel saying: 11 “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” So Samuel was troubled and cried out to Adonai all night long. 12 Then Samuel rose early in the morning to confront Saul. But it was reported to Samuel saying, “Saul went to Carmel—for some reason, he erected a monument for himself. Then he turned and went down to Gilgal.”
13 Now when Samuel reached Saul, Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of Adonai! I have carried out Adonai’s command.”
14 But Samuel said, “Then what is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
15 “They brought them from the Amalekites,” Saul replied, “for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to Adonai your God—but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16 “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what Adonai said to me last night.”
“Say on,” he said.
17 Then Samuel said, “Isn’t it true, though you were insignificant in your own eyes, that you were made head of the tribes of Israel? Adonai anointed you king over Israel! 18 Then Adonai sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and utterly destroy the Amalekites, the sinners, and wage war against them until you annihilate them.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of Adonai, but rushed greedily onto the spoil—doing what was evil in Adonai’s eyes?”
20 “But I did obey the voice of Adonai,” Saul said to Samuel. “I went on the mission on which Adonai sent me, and brought back Agag the king of Amalek—and utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen—the best of what was under the ban of destruction—to sacrifice to Adonai your God in Gilgal.”
22 Samuel said:
“Does Adonai delight in burnt offerings
and sacrifices
as in obeying the voice of Adonai?[a]
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination
and stubbornness is like iniquity
and idolatry.
Since you have rejected Adonai’s word,
He has also rejected you as king.”
22 I saw no temple in her, for its Temple is Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. [a] 24 The nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. [b] 25 Its gates shall never be shut by day,[c] for there shall be no night there! 26 And they shall bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. 27 And nothing unholy[d] shall ever enter it, nor anyone doing what is detestable or false,[e] but only those written in the Book of Life.
22 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life—bright as crystal,[f] flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s street. On either side of the river was a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. [g] 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the city, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face,[h] and His name shall be on their foreheads. [i] 5 Night shall be no more, and people will have no need for lamplight or sunlight—for Adonai Elohim will shine on them.[j] And they shall reign forever and ever!
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.