Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Foolishness and Wickedness of People.
For the music director; according to [a]Mahalath. A [b]Maskil of David.
53 (A)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
(B)There is no one who does good.
2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there is (C)anyone who [c]understands,
Who (D)seeks after God.
3 (E)Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Have the workers of injustice (F)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people like they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?
5 They were in great [d]fear there, (G)where no [e]fear had been;
For God (H)scattered the bones of [f]him who encamped against you;
You (I)put them to shame, because (J)God had rejected them.
6 Oh, that (K)the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “(A)I have sinned, for (B)I have violated the [a]command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25 Now then, (C)please pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for (D)you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 Then Samuel turned to go, but (E)Saul grasped the edge of his robe, and it tore off. 28 So Samuel said to him, “(F)The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29 Also the [b](G)Glory of Israel (H)will not lie nor change His mind; for He is not a man, that He would change His mind.” 30 Then Saul said, “I have sinned; (I)but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before all Israel, and go back with me, (J)so that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
43 (A)For there is no good tree that bears bad fruit, nor, [a]on the other hand, a bad tree that bears good fruit. 44 (B)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45 (C)The good person out of the good [b]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; (D)for his mouth speaks from [c]that which fills his heart.
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