Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 94

¹ O Lord God, You to Whom vengeance belongs, O God, You to Whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

² Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render to the proud a fit compensation!

³ Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph and exult?

⁴ They pour out arrogant words, speaking hard things; all the evildoers boast loftily.^(A)

⁵ They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage.

⁶ They slay the widow and the transient stranger and murder the unprotected orphan.

⁷ Yet they say, The Lord does not see, neither does the God of Jacob notice it.

⁸ Consider and understand, you stupid ones among the people! And you [self-confident] fools, when will you become wise?

⁹ He Who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He Who formed the eye, shall He not see?

¹⁰ He Who disciplines and instructs the nations, shall He not punish, He Who teaches man knowledge?

¹¹ The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vain (empty and futile—only a breath).^(B)

¹² Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law,

¹³ That You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴ For the Lord will not cast off nor spurn His people, neither will He abandon His heritage.

¹⁵ For justice will return to the [uncompromisingly] righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷ Unless the Lord had been my help, I would soon have dwelt in [the land where there is] silence.

¹⁸ When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.

¹⁹ In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!

²⁰ Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with You—they who frame and hide their unrighteous doings under [the sacred name of] law?

²¹ They band themselves together against the life of the [consistently] righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

²² But the Lord has become my High Tower and Defense, and my God the Rock of my refuge.

²³ And He will turn back upon them their own iniquity and will wipe them out by means of their own wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.

5 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now and take notice! Seek in her broad squares to see if you can find a man [as Abraham sought in Sodom], one who does justice, who seeks truth, sincerity, and faithfulness; and I will pardon [Jerusalem—for one uncompromisingly righteous person].^(A)

² And though they say, As the Lord lives, surely they swear falsely.

³ O Lord, do not your eyes look on the truth? [They have meant to please You outwardly, but You look on their hearts.] You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to take correction or instruction. They have made their faces harder than a rock, they have refused to repent and return to You.

⁴ Then I said, Surely these are only the poor; they are [sinfully] foolish and have no understanding, for they know not the way of the Lord, the judgment (the just and righteous law) of their God.

⁵ I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they must know the way of the Lord, the judgment (the just and righteous law) of their God. But [I found the very reverse to be true] these had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law] and had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

⁶ Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the desert shall destroy them, a leopard or panther shall lie in wait against their cities. Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their backslidings and total desertion of faith are increased and have become great and mighty.

⁷ Why should I and how can I pass over this and forgive you for it? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by those that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full and bound them to Me by oath, they committed [spiritual] adultery, assembling themselves in troops at the houses of [idol] harlots.

⁸ They were like fed stallions roaming at large; each one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

⁹ Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord; and shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

¹⁰ Go up within [Jerusalem’s] walls and destroy [her vines], but do not make a full and complete end. Trim away the tendrils [of her vines], for they are not the Lord’s.

¹¹ For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very faithlessly and treacherously against Me, says the Lord.

¹² They have lied about and denied the Lord by saying, It is not He [Who speaks through His prophets]! Evil shall not come upon us; nor shall we see war or famine.

¹³ And [say they] the prophets will become wind [what they prophesy will not come to pass], and the word [of God] is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them [as they threatened would be done to us].

¹⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: Because you [the people] have spoken this word, behold, I will make My words fire in your mouth [Jeremiah] and this people wood, and it will devour them.

¹⁵ Behold, I am bringing a nation upon you from afar, O house of Israel, says the Lord. It is a mighty and enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.

¹⁶ Their quiver is [filled with deadly missiles] like an open sepulcher [filled with dead bodies; the foes] are all mighty men (heroes).

¹⁷ They shall consume your harvest and your food; they shall consume your sons and your daughters; they shall consume your flocks and your herds; they shall consume your vines and your fig trees. They shall break down and impoverish your fortified cities in which you trust, with the sword [they shall destroy them].

¹⁸ This charge and admonition I commit in trust to you, Timothy, my son, ^[a]in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning you, so that inspired and aided by them you may wage the good warfare,

¹⁹ Holding fast to faith (^[b]that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith.

²⁰ Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan in order that they may be disciplined [by punishment and learn] not to blaspheme.