Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Will Punish the Proud
For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David is in Ahimelech’s house.”
52 Mighty warrior, why do you brag about the evil you do?
God’s love will continue forever.
2 You think up evil plans.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
making up lies.
3 You love wrong more than right
and lies more than truth. Selah
4 You love words that bite
and tongues that lie.
5 But God will ruin you forever.
He will grab you and throw you out of your tent.
He will tear you away from the land of the living. Selah
6 Those who do right will see this and fear God.
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “Look what happened to the man
who did not depend on God.
Instead, he depended on his money.
He grew strong by his evil plans.”
8 But I am like an olive tree
growing in God’s Temple.
I trust God’s love
forever and ever.
9 God, I will thank you forever for what you have done.
With those who worship you, I will trust you because you are good.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
18 How terrible it will be for you who want
the Lord’s day of judging to come.
Why do you want that day to come?
It will bring darkness for you, not light.
19 It will be like a man who runs from a lion
and meets a bear.
It will be like him going into his house
and putting his hand on the wall.
And then a snake bites him.
20 So the Lord’s day of judging will bring darkness, not light.
It will be a time of sadness, not joy.
21 The Lord says, “I hate and reject your feasts.
I cannot stand your religious meetings.
22 You offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings.
But I won’t accept them.
You bring the best fellowship offerings.
But I will ignore them.
23 Take the noise of your songs away from here!
I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like a river.
Let goodness flow like a never-ending stream.
25 “People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for 40 years.
26 But now you will have to carry with you
your king, the false god Sakkuth,
and Kaiwan your idol
and the idols of your other star gods you have made.
27 This is because I will send you away as captives beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord. His name is God of heaven’s armies.
The Love of Christ
14 So I bow in prayer before the Father. 15 Every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name from him. 16 I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong in spirit. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love. I pray that you can understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than any person can ever know. But I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
20 With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.