Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

7 ⁽⁰⁾ A shiggayon of David, which he sang to Adonai because of Kush the Ben-Y’mini:

^2 (1) Adonai my God, in you I take refuge.
Save me from all my pursuers, and rescue me;
^3 (2) otherwise, they will maul me like a lion
and tear me apart, with no rescuer present.

^4 (3) Adonai my God, if I have caused this,
if there is guilt on my hands,
^5 (4) if I paid back evil to him who was at peace with me,
when I even spared those who opposed me without cause;
^6 (5) then let the enemy pursue me
until he overtakes me
and tramples my life down into the earth;
yes, let him lay my honor in the dust. (Selah)

^7 (6) Rise up, Adonai, in your anger!
Arouse yourself against the fury of my foes.
Wake up for me; you commanded justice.
^8 (7) May the assembly of the peoples surround you;
may you return to rule over them from on high.
^9 (8) Adonai, who dispenses judgment to the peoples,
judge me, Adonai, according to my righteousness
and as my integrity deserves.
^10 (9) Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and establish the righteous;
since you, righteous God,
test hearts and minds.
^11 (10) My shield is God,
who saves the upright in heart.

^12 (11) God is a righteous judge,
a God whose anger is present every day.
^13 (12) If a person will not repent,
he sharpens his sword.
He has bent his bow, made it ready;
^14 (13) he has also prepared for him
weapons of death, his arrows,
which he has made into burning shafts.

^15 (14) Look how the wicked is pregnant with evil;
he conceives trouble, gives birth to lies.
^16 (15) He makes a pit, digs it deep,
and falls into the hole he made.
^17 (16) His mischief will return onto his own head,
his violence will recoil onto his own skull.

^18 (17) I thank Adonai for his righteousness
and sing praise to the name of Adonai ‘Elyon.

⁹ “Proclaim it on the palaces in Ashdod
and on the palaces in the land of Egypt; say:
‘Assemble yourselves on the hills of Shomron!
See what great tumult is seething within it,
how much oppression is being done there.’
¹⁰ For they don’t know how to do right,” says Adonai.
“They store up violence and robbery in their palaces.”

¹¹ Therefore, here is what Adonai Elohim says:

“An enemy will surround the land.
He will strip you of your strength,
and plunder your palaces.”

¹² This is what Adonai says:

¹³ “As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion
a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear;
so the people of Isra’el in Shomron will be rescued,
huddled under cushions in the corners of their beds.

“Hear, and testify against the house of Ya‘akov,”
says Adonai Elohim Elohei-Tzva’ot.
¹⁴ “For when I punish Isra’el’s crimes,
I will also punish the altars of Beit-El.
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.

¹⁵ I will tear down winter houses
as well as summer houses;
houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed;
the mansions will be no more,” says Adonai.
4 “Listen, you [lovely] cows of Bashan,
who live on Mount Shomron,
who oppress the poor and grind down the needy,
who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink’:
² Adonai Elohim has sworn by his holiness
that your time is surely coming.

“You will be dragged away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.
³ You will leave through breaks in the wall,
each woman right behind the next,
and be sent off to Harmonah,” says Adonai.

⁴ “Come to Beit-El, and commit crimes;
to Gilgal, and commit more crimes!
Bring your sacrifices in the morning
and your tithes after three days;
⁵ burn leavened bread as a thank offering;
brag in public about your voluntary offerings;
because that’s what you love to do, Isra’el!”
says Adonai Elohim.