Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [e]his evil desire.”
18 Alas, you who are longing for the (A)day of the Lord,
For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be (B)darkness and not light;
19 As when a man (C)flees from a lion
And a bear meets him,
[a]Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of the Lord be (D)darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I (E)reject your festivals,
Nor do I [b](F)delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 “Even though you (G)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the (H)peace offerings of your fatlings.
23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24 “But let (I)justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “[c](J)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 (K)You also carried along [d]Sikkuth your king and [e]Kiyyun, your images, [f]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
14 For this reason I (A)bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom [a]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to (B)the riches of His glory, to be (C)strengthened with power through His Spirit in (D)the inner man, 17 so that (E)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being (F)rooted and (G)grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with (H)all the [b]saints what is (I)the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know (J)the love of Christ which (K)surpasses knowledge, that you may be (L)filled up to all the (M)fullness of God.
20 (N)Now to Him who is (O)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, (P)according to the power that works within us, 21 (Q)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations [c]forever and ever. Amen.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.