Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Rejoicing in Answered Prayer
A Psalm of David.
28 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:
(A)Do not be silent to me,
(B)Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
(C)When I lift up my hands (D)toward Your holy sanctuary.
3 Do not [a]take me away with the wicked
And with the workers of iniquity,
(E)Who speak peace to their neighbors,
But evil is in their hearts.
4 (F)Give them according to their deeds,
And according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
Give them according to the work of their hands;
Render to them what they deserve.
5 Because (G)they do not regard the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of His hands,
He shall destroy them
And not build them up.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
(A)We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 (B)We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears,
And (C)moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our (D)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering (E)from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a (F)prey.
The Redeemer of Zion
Then the Lord saw it, and [a]it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16 (G)He saw that there was no man,
And (H)wondered that there was no intercessor;
(I)Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 (J)For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 (K)According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 (L)So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in (M)like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood
2 Therefore, (A)laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 (B)as newborn babes, desire the pure (C)milk of the word, that you may grow [a]thereby, 3 if indeed you have (D)tasted that the Lord is gracious.
The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People(E)
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, (F)rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
(G)“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who [b]are disobedient,
(H)“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and
(I)“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”
(J)They stumble, being disobedient to the word, (K)to which they also were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of (L)darkness into His marvelous light; 10 (M)who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.