Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

17 A Prayer of David. Hear, O Jehovah, righteousness, attend my cry, Give ear [to] my prayer, without lips of deceit.

² From before thee my judgment doth go out; Thine eyes do see uprightly.

³ Thou hast proved my heart, Thou hast inspected by night, Thou hast tried me, Thou findest nothing; My thoughts pass not over my mouth.

⁴ As to doings of man, Through a word of Thy lips I have observed The paths of a destroyer;

⁵ To uphold my goings in Thy paths, My steps have not slidden.

⁶ I -- I called Thee, for Thou dost answer me, O God, incline Thine ear to me, hear my speech.

⁷ Separate wonderfully Thy kindness, O Saviour of the confiding, By Thy right hand, from withstanders.

⁸ Keep me as the apple, the daughter of the eye; In shadow of Thy wings thou dost hide me.

⁹ From the face of the wicked who spoiled me. Mine enemies in soul go round against me.

¹⁰ Their fat they have closed up, Their mouths have spoken with pride:

¹¹ `Our steps now have compassed [him];' Their eyes they set to turn aside in the land.

¹² His likeness as a lion desirous to tear, As a young lion dwelling in secret places.

¹³ Arise, O Jehovah, go before his face, Cause him to bend. Deliver my soul from the wicked, Thy sword,

¹⁴ From men, Thy hand, O Jehovah, From men of the world, their portion [is] in life, And [with] Thy hidden things Thou fillest their belly, They are satisfied [with] sons; And have left their abundance to their sucklings.

¹⁵ I -- in righteousness, I see Thy face; I am satisfied, in awaking, [with] Thy form!

3 And he sheweth me Joshua the high priest standing before the messenger of Jehovah, and the Adversary standing at his right hand, to be an adversary to him.

² And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary: `Jehovah doth push against thee, O Adversary, Yea, push against thee doth Jehovah, Who is fixing on Jerusalem, Is not this a brand delivered from fire?'

³ And Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and is standing before the messenger.

⁴ And he answereth and speaketh unto those standing before him, saying: `Turn aside the filthy garments from off him.' And he saith unto him, `See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass away from off thee, so as to clothe thee with costly apparel.'

⁵ He also said, `Let them set a pure diadem on his head. And they set the pure diadem on his head, and clothe him with garments. And the messenger of Jehovah is standing,

⁶ and the messenger of Jehovah doth protest to Joshua, saying:

⁷ `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: If in My ways thou dost walk, And if My charge thou dost keep, Then also thou dost judge My house, And also thou dost keep My courts, And I have given to thee conductors among these standing by.

⁸ Hear, I pray thee, Joshua, the high priest, Thou and thy companions sitting before thee, (For men of type [are] they,) For lo, I am bringing in My servant -- a Shoot.

⁹ For lo, the stone that I put before Joshua, On one stone [are] seven eyes, Lo, I am graving its graving, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And I have removed the iniquity of that land in one day.

¹⁰ In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, Ye do call, each unto his neighbour, Unto the place of the vine, And unto the place of the fig-tree!'

⁴ For if God messengers who sinned did not spare, but with chains of thick gloom, having cast [them] down to Tartarus, did deliver [them] to judgment, having been reserved,

⁵ and the old world did not spare, but the eighth person, Noah, of righteousness a preacher, did keep, a flood on the world of the impious having brought,

⁶ and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah having turned to ashes, with an overthrow did condemn, an example to those about to be impious having set [them];

⁷ and righteous Lot, worn down by the conduct in lasciviousness of the impious, He did rescue,

⁸ for in seeing and hearing, the righteous man, dwelling among them, day by day the righteous soul with unlawful works was harassing.

⁹ The Lord hath known to rescue pious ones out of temptation, and unrighteous ones to a day of judgment, being punished, to keep,

¹⁰ and chiefly those going behind the flesh in desire of uncleanness, and lordship despising; presumptuous, self-complacent, dignities they are not afraid to speak evil of,

¹¹ whereas messengers, in strength and power being greater, do not bear against them before the Lord an evil speaking judgment;

¹² and these, as irrational natural beasts, made to be caught and destroyed -- in what things they are ignorant of, speaking evil -- in their destruction shall be destroyed,

¹³ about to receive a reward of unrighteousness, pleasures counting the luxury in the day, spots and blemishes, luxuriating in their deceits, feasting with you,

¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery, and unable to cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having an heart exercised in covetousnesses, children of a curse,

¹⁵ having forsaken a right way, they did go astray, having followed in the way of Balaam the [son] of Bosor, who a reward of unrighteousness did love,

¹⁶ and had a rebuke of his own iniquity -- a dumb ass, in man's voice having spoken, did forbid the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are wells without water, and clouds by a tempest driven, to whom the thick gloom of the darkness to the age hath been kept;

¹⁸ for overswellings of vanity speaking, they do entice in desires of the flesh -- lasciviousnesses, those who had truly escaped from those conducting themselves in error,

¹⁹ liberty to them promising, themselves being servants of the corruption, for by whom any one hath been overcome, to this one also he hath been brought to servitude,

²⁰ for, if having escaped from the pollutions of the world, in the acknowledging of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and by these again being entangled, they have been overcome, become to them hath the last things worse than the first,

²¹ for it were better to them not to have acknowledged the way of the righteousness, than having acknowledged [it], to turn back from the holy command delivered to them,