Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

58 ⁽⁰⁾ For the leader. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” By David, a mikhtam:

^2 (1) [Rulers,] does your silence really speak justice?
Are you judging people fairly?
^3 (2) [No!] In your hearts you devise wrongs,
your hands dispense violence in the land.

^4 (3) From the womb, the wicked are estranged,
liars on the wrong path since birth.
^5 (4) Their venom is like snake’s venom;
they are like a serpent that stops its ears,
^6 (5) so as not to hear the voice of the charmer,
no matter how well he plays.

^7 (6) God, break their teeth in their mouth!
Shatter the fangs of these lions, Adonai!
^8 (7) May they vanish like water that drains away.
May their arrows be blunted when they aim their bows.
^9 (8) May they be like a slug that melts as it moves,
like a stillborn baby that never sees the sun.
^10 (9) Before your cook-pots feel the heat of the burning thorns,
may he blow them away, green and blazing alike.

^11 (10) The righteous will rejoice to see vengeance done,
they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked;
^12 (11) and people will say, “Yes, the righteous are rewarded;
there is, after all, a God who judges the earth.”

²³ “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not pursued the ba‘alim’?
Look at your conduct in the valley,
understand what you have done.
You are a restive young female camel,
running here and there,
²⁴ wild, accustomed to the desert,
sniffing the wind in her lust —
who can control her when she’s in heat?
Males seeking her need not weary themselves,
for at mating season they will find her.

²⁵ “Stop before your shoes wear out,
and your throat is dry from thirst!
But you say, ‘No, it’s hopeless!
I love these strangers, and I’m going after them.’
²⁶ Just as a thief is ashamed when caught,
so is the house of Isra’el ashamed —
they, their kings, their leaders,
their cohanim and their prophets,
²⁷ who say to a log, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave us birth.’
For they have turned their backs to me
instead of their faces.
But when trouble comes, they will plead,
‘Rouse yourself and save us!’
²⁸ Where are your gods that you made for yourselves?
Let them rouse themselves,
if they can save you when trouble comes.
Y’hudah, you have as many gods
as you have cities!
²⁹ Why argue with me? You have all
rebelled against me!” says Adonai.

³⁰ “In vain have I struck down your people.
They would not receive correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a marauding lion.
³¹ You of this generation,
look at the word of Adonai:
Have I been a desert to Isra’el?
or a land of oppressive darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We’re free to roam,
we will no longer come to you’?
³² Does a girl forget her jewellery,
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days beyond numbering.
³³ You are so clever in your search for love
that the worst of women can learn from you!
³⁴ Right there on your clothing
is the blood of the innocent poor,
although you never caught them breaking and entering.
Yet concerning all these things,
³⁵ you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely he’s no longer angry at me.’
Here, I am passing sentence on you,
because you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
³⁶ You cheapen yourself
when you change course so often —
you will be disappointed by Egypt too,
just as you were disappointed by Ashur.
³⁷ Yes, you will leave him too,
with your hands on your heads [in shame].
For Adonai rejects those in whom you trust;
from them you will gain nothing.”