Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK 3
The Nearness of God Is My Good
A Psalm of Asaph.
73 Surely God is (A)good to Israel,
To those who are (B)pure in heart!
2 But as for me, (C)my feet had almost stumbled,
My steps [a]had almost slipped.
3 For I was (D)envious of the boastful,
I saw the (E)peace of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their [b]body is fat.
5 They are (F)not [c]in trouble as other [d]men,
And they are not (G)stricken along with the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore lofty pride is (H)their necklace;
The (I)garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye [e]bulges from (J)fatness;
The delusions of their heart overflow.
8 They (K)scoff and [f]wickedly speak of oppression;
They (L)speak from on high.
9 They have (M)set their mouth [g]against the heavens,
And their tongue goes through the earth.
10 Therefore [h]his people return here, to his place,
And waters of (N)fullness are [i]drunk by them.
11 They say, “(O)How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
12 Behold, (P)these are the wicked;
And always (Q)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely (R)in vain I have [j]kept my heart pure
And (S)washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken (T)all day long
And [k](U)reproved every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will recount thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the (V)generation of Your children.
16 When I (W)gave thought to know this,
It was trouble in my sight
17 Until I came into the [l](X)sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (Y)end.
18 Surely You set them in (Z)slippery places;
You cause them to fall to [m](AA)destruction.
19 How they become (AB)desolate in a moment!
They are completely swept away by (AC)terrors!
20 Like a (AD)dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (AE)aroused, You will (AF)despise their [n]form.
11 A (A)deceptive balance is an abomination to Yahweh,
But a (B)just weight is His delight.
2 When (C)arrogance comes, then comes disgrace,
But with the meek is wisdom.
3 The (D)integrity of the upright will lead them,
But the (E)crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.
4 (F)Wealth will not profit in the day of wrath,
But (G)righteousness will deliver from death.
5 The (H)righteousness of the blameless will make his way straight,
But (I)the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will (J)be captured by their own desire.
7 When a wicked man dies, his (K)hope will perish,
And the (L)expectation of vigorous men perishes.
8 The righteous is rescued from [a]distress,
But the wicked [b]takes his place.
9 With his (M)mouth the godless man corrupts his neighbor,
But through knowledge the (N)righteous will be rescued.
10 When it (O)goes well with the righteous, the city exults,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
11 By the blessing of the upright a city is raised up,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
12 He who despises his neighbor lacks a heart of wisdom,
But a man of discernment keeps silent.
13 He (P)who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
But he who is faithful in spirit (Q)conceals a matter.
14 Where there is no (R)guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is salvation.
15 If one becomes a (S)guarantor for a stranger, he will surely suffer,
But he who hates [c]striking hands in pledge is secure.
16 A (T)gracious woman holds fast to glory,
But ruthless men hold fast to riches.
17 The man of (U)lovingkindness deals bountifully with his soul,
But the cruel man brings trouble on his flesh.
18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
But he who (V)sows righteousness gets a true reward.
19 He who is steadfast in (W)righteousness will attain to life,
And (X)he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.
20 Those with a crooked heart are an abomination to Yahweh,
But those of a (Y)blameless way are His (Z)delight.
21 [d]Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,
But the seed of the righteous will escape.
22 As a (AA)ring of gold in a swine’s snout
So is a beautiful woman who turns away from [e]discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous is only good,
But the (AB)hope of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,
And there is one who holds back what is rightly due, and yet results only in want.
25 The soul [f]that (AC)blesses will be [g]enriched,
And he who (AD)waters will himself be watered.
26 He who withholds grain, the (AE)people will curse him,
But (AF)blessing will be on the head of him who (AG)sells it.
27 He who earnestly seeks good seeks favor,
But (AH)he who searches for evil, evil will come to him.
28 He who (AI)trusts in his riches will fall,
But (AJ)the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.
29 He who (AK)troubles his own house will (AL)inherit wind,
And (AM)the ignorant fool will be a slave to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is (AN)a tree of life,
And (AO)he who is wise [h]wins souls.
31 If (AP)the righteous will be repaid in the earth,
How much more the wicked and the sinner!
3 For (A)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary, (B)fainting [a]in heart.
The Father’s Discipline
4 (C)You have not yet resisted [b](D)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“(E)My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the [c]Lord,
Nor (F)faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 (G)For those (H)whom the [d]Lord loves He disciplines,
And He flogs every son whom He receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; (I)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, (J)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we [e]had [f]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we (K)respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to (L)the Father of [g]spirits, and (M)live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our benefit, (N)so that we may share His holiness. 11 And all discipline (O)for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, but to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the (P)peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, [h](Q)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and (R)make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather (S)be healed.
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