The Lord Is in His Holy Temple
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?1
4 lThe Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord’s throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
but his soul mhates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 nLet him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their ocup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.
1 Save, O Lord, for rthe godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
sthe tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 tThe words of the Lord are pure words,
ulike silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us2 from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
9 h“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11 For iby people of strange lips
and with a jforeign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
kyet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
that they may go, and lfall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
m“Behold, I am the one who has laid1 as a nfoundation in Zion,
a ostone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
p‘Whoever qbelieves will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice the rline,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up sas on Mount Perazim;
tas in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a udecree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the ktrue one, who has the lkey of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have mkept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the nsynagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and obow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have ploved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 qI am coming soon. rHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your scrown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will twrite on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, uthe new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own vnew name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the wfaithful and true witness, xthe beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, y“I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to zbuy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself aand the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 bThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, cI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, dI will grant him to esit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
