Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer with Confidence in Final Salvation
A Prayer of David.
17 Hear a just cause, O Lord,
Attend to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.
3 You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
(A)You have [a]tried me and have found [b]nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not (B)transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.
5 (C)Uphold my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.
6 (D)I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7 Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O You who [c]save those who trust in You
From those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the [d]apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9 From the wicked who oppress me,
From my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have closed up their (E)fat hearts;
With their mouths they (F)speak proudly.
11 They have now surrounded us in our steps;
They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,
12 As a lion is eager to tear his prey,
And like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O Lord,
Confront him, cast him down;
Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
14 With Your hand from men, O Lord,
From men of the world who have their portion in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.
They are satisfied with children,
And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.
Vision of the High Priest
3 Then he showed me (A)Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and (B)Satan[a] standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, (C)“The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who (D)has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! (E)Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was clothed with (F)filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, (G)and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean (H)turban on his head.”
So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
The Coming Branch
6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If you will walk in My ways,
And if you will (I)keep My command,
Then you shall also (J)judge My house,
And likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give you places to walk
Among these who (K)stand here.
8 ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,
You and your companions who sit before you,
For they are (L)a[b] wondrous sign;
For behold, I am bringing forth (M)My Servant the (N)BRANCH.
9 For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
(O)Upon the stone are (P)seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘And (Q)I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 (R)In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,
‘Everyone will invite his neighbor
(S)Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”
Doom of False Teachers
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to [a]hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of (A)Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and (B)delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, (C)tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then (D)the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially (E)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. (F)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of [b]dignitaries, 11 whereas (G)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
Depravity of False Teachers
12 But these, (H)like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 (I)and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure (J)to [c]carouse in the daytime. (K)They are spots and blemishes, [d]carousing in their own deceptions while (L)they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of [e]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. (M)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of (N)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
17 (O)These are wells without water, [f]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness [g]forever.
Deceptions of False Teachers
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who [h]have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of [i]corruption; (P)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into [j]bondage. 20 For if, after they (Q)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are (R)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For (S)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.