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.”
“Those at Ease in Zion”
6 (A)Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria,
The (B)distinguished men of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Go over to (C)Calneh and look,
And go from there to (D)Hamath the great,
Then go down to (E)Gath of the Philistines.
Are [a]they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than yours?
3 Do you (F)put off the day of calamity,
And would you (G)bring near the seat of violence?
4 Those who recline on beds of ivory
And sprawl on their (H)couches,
And (I)eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,
5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp,
And like David have [b]composed (J)songs for themselves,
6 Who (K)drink wine from [c]sacrificial bowls
While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils,
Yet they have not (L)grieved over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now (M)go into exile at the head of the exiles,
And the (N)sprawlers’ [d]banqueting will [e]pass away.
8 The Lord [f]God has (O)sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts has declared:
“I (P)loathe the arrogance of Jacob,
And [g]detest his (Q)citadels;
Therefore I will (R)deliver up the city and [h]all it contains.”
9 And it will be, if (S)ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 Then one’s [i]uncle, or his [j](T)undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will [k]answer, “(U)Keep quiet. For [l]the name of the Lord is (V)not to be mentioned.” 11 For behold, the Lord is going to (W)command that the (X)great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one plow [m]them with oxen?
Yet you have turned (Y)justice into poison
And the fruit of righteousness into [n]wormwood,
13 You who rejoice in [o](Z)Lodebar,
[p]And say, “Have we not (AA)by our own strength taken [q]Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (AB)I am going to raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God of hosts,
“And they will afflict you from the (AC)entrance of Hamath
To the (AD)brook of the Arabah.”
Parable of the Sower
4 (A)When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the [a]air ate it up. 6 Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. 8 Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “(B)He who has ears to hear, [b]let him hear.”
9 (C)His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. 10 And He said, “(D)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that (E)seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
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