Friday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? 2Verse 2. You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts. 3Verse 3. But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage. 4Verse 4. How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.” 5Verse 5. “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? 6Verse 6. Even your brothers— your own father’s household— even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you. 7Verse 7. I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies. 8Verse 8. My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me; therefore I hate her. 9Verse 9. Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her. 10Verse 10. Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. 11Verse 11. They have made it a desolation; desolate before Me, it mourns. All the land is laid waste, but no man takes it to heart. 12Verse 12. Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace. 13Verse 13. They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

6Verse 6. A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. 7Verse 7. A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. 8Verse 8. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being. 9Verse 9. Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys. 10Verse 10. The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. 11Verse 11. A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination. 12Verse 12. Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.