Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer of David.

¹ ¶ Hear righteousness, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that does not go out of feigned lips.

² Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold uprightness.

³ Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast refined me and hast found no iniquity; that which I thought did not pass through my mouth.

⁴ Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have observed the ways of the violent.

⁵ Sustain my steps in thy ways that my footsteps not slip.

⁶ I have called upon thee, because thou dost hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech.

⁷ Show thy mercy to be marvellous, O Saviour of those who put their trust in thee, from those that rise up against thy right hand.

⁸ ¶ Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me with the shadow of thy wings,

⁹ from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

¹⁰ They are closed in with their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹ They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes upon throwing us down to the earth

¹² like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³ Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, with thy sword;

¹⁴ from men, with thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, who have their portion in this life and whose belly thou dost fill with thy provision: they satisfy their sons and leave the rest to their family.

¹⁵ As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.

3 ¶ And he showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

² And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD reprehend thee, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem reprehend thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

³ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel.

⁴ And the angel answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I have caused thee to be clothed with new raiment.

⁵ And I said, Let them set a clean mitre upon his head. So they set a clean mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

⁶ And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,

⁷ Thus saith the LORD of the hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also govern my house and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee a place among these that are here.

⁸ ¶ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee, for they are men of wonder. Behold, I bring forth my slave the BRANCH.

⁹ For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone there are seven eyes; behold, I will engrave his labour, saith the LORD of the hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day.

¹⁰ In that day, saith the LORD of the hosts, each one of you shall call his neighbour under his vine and under his fig tree.

⁴ For if God did not forgive the angels that sinned, but cast them down into the deepest abyss {Gr. Tartarus} and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

⁵ and if he did not forgive the old world, but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

⁶ and if he condemned by destruction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, turning them into ashes, making them an example unto those that after should live without fear and reverence of God;

⁷ ¶ and delivered just Lot, who was persecuted by those abominable people because of their nefarious conversation;

⁸ (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, afflicted his righteous soul from day to day with the deeds of those unjust people);

⁹ the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished;

¹⁰ ¶ and chiefly those that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise dominion; presumptuous, arrogant, they are not afraid to speak evil of the higher powers;

¹¹ whereas even the angels, who are greater in power and might, bring no curse of judgment against them before the Lord.

¹² But these, speaking evil of the things that they do not understand (as natural animals without reason, who are made to be taken and destroyed), shall utterly perish in their own corruption,

¹³ receiving the reward of their unrighteousness, as those that count it pleasure to live luxuriously every day. These are spots and blemishes, who eat together with you, while at the same time they revel in their deceit,

¹⁴ having their eyes full of adultery, and not knowing how to cease from sin, baiting unstable souls, having their heart exercised in covetous practices; cursed sons,

¹⁵ who forsaking the right way have erred, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,

¹⁶ and was rebuked for his iniquity; a dumb animal accustomed to a yoke (upon which he was seated), speaking with man’s voice, hindered the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are wells without water, clouds that are brought by a whirlwind, to whom gross darkness is reserved for ever.

¹⁸ For speaking arrogant words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from those who converse in error,

¹⁹ promising them liberty, being they themselves the slaves of corruption: for he who is overcome by someone is subject to bondage by the one that overcame him.

²⁰ Certainly, if having separated themselves from the contaminations of the world, by the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again entangle themselves therein and are overcome, their latter end is made worse for them than the beginnings.

²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.