Lamentations 3 Cross References - BSB

¹ I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. ² He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. ³ Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long. ⁴ He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. ⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. ⁶ He has made me dwell in darkness like those dead for ages. ⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains. ⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer. ⁹ He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked. ¹⁰ He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush. ¹¹ He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; He left me without help. ¹² He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow. ¹³ He pierced my kidneys with His arrows. ¹⁴ I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long. ¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood. ¹⁶ He has ground my teeth with gravel and trampled me in the dust. ¹⁷ My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. ¹⁸ So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.” ¹⁹ Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. ²⁰ Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. ²¹ Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²² Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. ²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! ²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. ²⁶ It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. ²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young. ²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence, for God has disciplined him. ²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—perhaps there is still hope. ³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach. ³¹ For the Lord will not cast us off forever. ³² Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion. ³³ For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men. ³⁴ To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land, ³⁵ to deny a man justice before the Most High, ³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit—of these the Lord does not approve. ³⁷ Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it? ³⁸ Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High? ³⁹ Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins? ⁴⁰ Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: ⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.” ⁴³ You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without pity. ⁴⁴ You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through. ⁴⁵ You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. ⁴⁶ All our enemies open their mouths against us. ⁴⁷ Panic and pitfall have come upon us—devastation and destruction. ⁴⁸ Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people. ⁴⁹ My eyes overflow unceasingly, without relief, ⁵⁰ until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. ⁵¹ My eyes bring grief to my soul because of all the daughters of my city. ⁵² Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird. ⁵³ They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones upon me. ⁵⁴ The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die. ⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit. ⁵⁶ You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.” ⁵⁷ You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.” ⁵⁸ You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life. ⁵⁹ You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause! ⁶⁰ You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me. ⁶¹ O LORD, You have heard their insults, all their plots against me— ⁶² the slander and murmuring of my assailants against me all day long. ⁶³ When they sit and when they rise, see how they mock me in song. ⁶⁴ You will pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. ⁶⁵ Put a veil of anguish over their hearts; may Your curse be upon them! ⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD.

²¹ Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

²⁰ Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.

⁷ Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me. Selah

¹⁵ From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair. ¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.

³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

¹⁷ I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation. ¹⁸ Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me—water that is not there.

¹⁴ Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. ¹⁵ Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. ¹⁶ May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon, ¹⁷ because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged. ¹⁸ Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

¹² Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day of His fierce anger? ¹³ He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long. ¹⁴ My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.

²⁹ and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.

¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.

²⁶ But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.

⁹ Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

²³ I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.

¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

¹ How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger.

⁵³ They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones upon me. ⁵⁴ The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die. ⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.

¹⁸ Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. ¹⁹ It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. ²⁰ Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

²⁰ The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

²¹ if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,

²⁵ I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross; I will remove all your impurities.

²⁵ Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

¹⁰ But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

⁴ He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion. ⁵ The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah. ⁶ He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest. ⁷ The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

⁸ You have bound me, and it has become a witness; my frailty rises up and testifies against me. ⁹ His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.

⁹ Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well. ¹⁰ For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

³ When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.

² For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. ³ There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. ⁴ For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear. ⁵ My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly. ⁶ I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning. ⁷ For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body. ⁸ I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.

³ For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. ⁴ My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. ⁵ Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones.

¹³ I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me.

¹⁷ Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

⁸ He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.

²¹ They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.

¹⁴ Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵ Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.

¹⁵ Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains. ⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer. ⁹ He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.

¹⁹ Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall.

⁵ I am forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care. ⁶ You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.

³ For the enemy has pursued my soul, crushing my life to the ground, making me dwell in darkness like those long since dead.

⁷ Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.

²³ Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

⁸ You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.

⁴ But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”

¹⁴ My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.

⁹ He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.

⁵ We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.

¹² You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.

⁶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

⁷ Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.

²⁰ I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

² I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.

⁴ O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?

⁴⁴ You have covered Yourself with a cloud that no prayer can pass through.

² How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?

⁴⁶ About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

²⁸ His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

¹⁷ Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

¹¹ He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; He left me without help.

¹⁶ Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.

⁹ He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.

¹² like a lion greedy for prey, like a young lion lurking in ambush.

¹⁴ For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.

¹ Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

⁷ So like a lion I will pounce on them; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. ⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart.

⁷ Surely He has now exhausted me; You have devastated all my family.

¹² I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target; ¹³ His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.

²² Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

²⁶ And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

⁸ Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.”

¹⁰ I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away. ¹¹ “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

⁸ I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

⁴³ And fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.’

²⁰ “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin. ²¹ With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver. ²² With you I shatter man and woman; with you I shatter the old man and the youth; with you I shatter the young man and the maiden.

¹³ He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.

⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; for iron shatters and crushes all things, and like iron that crushes all things, it will shatter and crush all the others. ⁴¹ And just as you saw that the feet and toes were made partly of fired clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom, yet some of the strength of iron will be in it—just as you saw the iron mixed with clay. ⁴² And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so the peoples will mix with one another, but will not hold together any more than iron mixes with clay. ⁴⁴ In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

²³ This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it.

⁸ Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.

³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.

¹⁹ Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”

⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?

¹² If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow. ¹³ He has prepared His deadly weapons; He ordains His arrows with fire.

² For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.

⁴ He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion.

²³ I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them.

²⁸ No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him.

² before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” ³ Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!” ⁴ Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

¹ “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs. ² What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them? ³ Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. ⁴ They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. ⁵ They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves, ⁶ so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground. ⁷ They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles. ⁸ A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land. ⁹ And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. ⁷ All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:

¹⁵ But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing. ¹⁶ Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.

¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.

¹¹ I made sackcloth my clothing, and I was sport to them. ¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.

⁴ We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.

³ Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt. ⁴ We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

³ for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

⁷ You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.

²⁷ Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.

⁶³ When they sit and when they rise, see how they mock me in song.

³⁹ And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” ⁴¹ In the same way, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him.

⁹ For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. ¹¹ To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

²⁰ “Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.

¹⁸ He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.

³ You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.

¹⁷ Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger. ¹⁸ Among all the sons she bore, there is no one to guide her; among all the sons she brought up, there is no one to take her hand. ¹⁹ These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you? ²⁰ Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God. ²¹ Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine. ²² Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.

¹⁵ This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. ¹⁶ And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.” ¹⁷ So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me, ¹⁸ to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;

²⁷ “Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’

⁸ And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.

¹⁰ The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

⁷ Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

⁶ O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.

⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears

¹⁷ Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.

²⁶ O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

⁶ When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

⁹ Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

¹¹ What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?

³⁰ but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

⁷ Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.

¹⁵⁵ Salvation is far from the wicked because they do not seek Your statutes.

¹⁷ Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

¹⁰ Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

¹¹ We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹⁵ We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.

¹⁹ Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We hoped for peace, but no good has come, and for the time of healing, but there was only terror.

⁵ Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go to mourn or show sympathy, for I have removed from this people My peace, My loving devotion, and My compassion,” declares the LORD.

¹⁶ For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.

¹⁰ For before those days neither man nor beast received wages, nor was there safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I had turned every man against his neighbor.

¹ David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

¹¹ What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?

¹⁵ where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?

²² In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.

¹¹ In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

³² So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

⁴⁷ Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!

⁵⁰ Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—

¹ A song of ascents. O LORD, remember on behalf of David all the hardships he endured,

⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.

⁶ When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence. ⁶ O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar.

¹¹ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

²⁵ For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.

⁸ the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

⁷ “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again? ⁸ Is His loving devotion gone forever? Has His promise failed for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah ¹⁰ So I said, “I am grieved that the right hand of the Most High has changed.” ¹¹ I will remember the works of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.

⁸¹ My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.

⁷ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.

²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. ²⁶ It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. ²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young. ²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence, for God has disciplined him. ²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—perhaps there is still hope.

³ For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

⁸ But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes. ⁹ Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹³ After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this), ¹⁴ shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor? ¹⁵ O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”

³¹ But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

⁸ Is His loving devotion gone forever? Has His promise failed for all time?

³⁸ And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

¹⁵ But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

⁴⁵ And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

⁸ But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

¹³ Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

²¹ But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness. ²² But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

⁶ “Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

⁶ Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

⁵ For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.

⁵ Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.

¹ A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations. ² For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever; in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”

³³ But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.

⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever.

² O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.

⁵ The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.

² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

¹⁸ Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

²³ Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

²⁰ And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.

¹⁵ Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.

⁵ The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.

²⁴ Be strong and courageous, all you who hope in the LORD.

¹⁸ Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

⁸ Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

¹² O LORD of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!

⁵⁷ The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.

⁵ I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

¹⁶ The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.

¹⁹ The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and of the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.

²¹ Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:

¹² And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”

²¹ Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.

¹⁸ I await Your salvation, O LORD.

⁹ As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

² So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

³ However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart on seeking God.”

¹⁹ who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”

²¹ He was diligent in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.

²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way.

⁸ My heart said, “Seek His face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek.

¹⁴ Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!

⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

³⁴ Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

⁷ And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. ⁴ Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.

¹ For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. Of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.

⁵ For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance reserved for those who fear Your name.

³² The humble will see and rejoice. You who seek God, let your hearts be revived!

³ Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

² Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.

⁵ I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope. ⁶ My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁹ And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

⁹ My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁸ Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

³¹ But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

⁴ From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

²⁶ It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

⁷ But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. ⁸ Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

⁸ Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.

¹⁰ and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

¹³ But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.

¹⁷ You need not fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you.’”

⁹ I will praise You forever, because You have done it. I will wait on Your name—for it is good—in the presence of Your saints.

⁶ Freely I will sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

²⁸ But as for me, it is good to draw near to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may proclaim all Your works.

¹ A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

¹⁶⁶ I wait for Your salvation, O LORD, and I carry out Your commandments.

¹⁷⁴ I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight.

⁵ I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.

⁷ Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.

¹⁵ For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”

¹⁸ Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you.

¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.

¹³ Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹² So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.

¹² Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,

⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.

¹ Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” ⁷ Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ⁸ If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live? ¹⁰ Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it. ¹² Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.

⁹ I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

⁷ I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

¹⁷ I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation.

¹⁰ The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

¹² And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.

⁴ “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.

⁵ My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. ⁶ Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

¹⁷ So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.

⁶³ so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”

¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.

⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

³ Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.

¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

¹⁰ They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.

⁹ because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.

²⁰ Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.

³ Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.

⁶ I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.

¹ Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.

³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;

⁶⁷ Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him

²⁹ If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.

²² Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.

⁷ “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?

¹⁴ For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. ⁹ He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever. ¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.

⁷ “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. ⁸ In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. ⁹ “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. ¹⁰ Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

¹⁶ For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.

³⁷ This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,” declares the LORD.

⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.

²⁴ “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation.

¹⁸ Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?

¹ I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: ³ “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”? ⁴ And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵ In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. ⁶ And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

²³ After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

⁷ The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

¹⁶ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.

²³ But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.

⁴³ Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity. ⁴⁴ Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress. ⁴⁵ And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

²⁰ Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

²² Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.

⁸ How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred!

²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

²¹ For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.

³² For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!

¹¹ Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

⁹ Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live? ¹⁰ Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.

³³ For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise His captive people.

¹¹ May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.

²⁰ to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,

¹⁷ who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”

⁹ to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.

²² Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again. ²³ I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

³³ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.

³³ For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.” ³⁴ “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out. ³⁵ May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem. ³⁶ Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. ¹² Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.

²⁷ And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁵ Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

³ This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

⁹ For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. ¹⁰ The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples. ¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.

⁹ A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

²¹ Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.

³⁰ There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.

¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

¹⁵ For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

¹¹ In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” ¹⁴ You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁰ “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

⁷ but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

²⁶ Many seek the ruler’s favor, but a man receives justice from the LORD.

⁷ I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.

⁴² For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them.

⁶ If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?

⁵ but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶ “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

¹³ But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

⁴¹ and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,

⁴³ For the land will be abandoned by them, and it will enjoy its Sabbaths by lying desolate without them. And they will pay the penalty for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and abhorred My statutes.

¹¹ So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?

⁴¹ The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”

¹² Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

⁶ Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads. ⁷ “O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies? ⁹ When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?” ¹⁰ But the LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions. ¹² This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction. ¹³ Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

⁷ And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah; so he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

¹³ Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”

¹³ After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),

⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

³ A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.

¹⁷ Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. ¹⁸ For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. ¹⁹ The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.

²⁰ Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.

¹⁵ Why do you cry out over your wound? Your pain has no cure! Because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins I have done these things to you.

³ For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. ⁴ At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’

⁸ As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.” ⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

⁹ Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.

⁹ And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.

³⁰ When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.

¹² And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”

⁶ So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

⁹ For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

¹³ As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him, ¹⁴ if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents, ¹⁵ then indeed you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and unafraid.

³¹ Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more. ³² Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

⁴ Be angry, yet do not sin; on your bed, search your heart and be still. Selah

⁵⁹ I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

⁷ Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

⁶ But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God.

¹ Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. ² Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. ³ Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

¹² “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” ¹³ So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.

⁵ Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways. ⁶ You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.” ⁷ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways. ⁸ Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD. ⁹ You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

³ So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’ ⁴ Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.

²⁰ First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

²⁸ Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

³¹ Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.

⁵ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test?

¹ Of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

² Hear my cry for mercy when I call to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

⁴ So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.

⁴ Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

² May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.

⁶ I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah ⁷ Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit. ⁸ Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.

⁸ We cared so deeply that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives as well. That is how beloved you have become to us.

⁴ and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.

²⁶ But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

²⁷ Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. ²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’

¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.

⁷ “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

¹⁸ The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.

¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹³ Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided.

⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, and fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You. ⁸ O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You. ⁹ To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him ¹⁰ and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. ¹² You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.

⁵ Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

¹⁶ But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy. ¹⁷ So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,

¹⁹ But You have crushed us in the lair of jackals; You have covered us with deepest darkness.

¹⁵ so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm.

¹ How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger. ² Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of the Daughter of Judah. He brought to the ground and defiled her kingdom and its princes.

¹⁷ The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.

²¹ Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have slaughtered them without compassion.

⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and exterminate them from under Your heavens, O LORD.

⁹ I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes the blow.

¹⁸ Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

¹⁰ But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

² Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.

¹¹ Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.

¹ Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go.

⁸ Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.

¹³ And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.

¹³ The LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you will only move upward and never downward, if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am giving you today.

³⁷ You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

⁴⁴ He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.

¹⁵ All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

¹⁴ I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long.

¹⁴ They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments. ¹⁵ “Go away! Unclean!” men shouted at them. “Away, away! Do not touch us!” So they fled and wandered. Among the nations it was said, “They can stay here no longer.”

¹³ when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

⁷ But among all the Israelites, not even a dog will snarl at man or beast.’ Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

⁹ And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. ¹⁰ They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. ¹¹ Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. ⁷ All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads: ⁸ “He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”

¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us. ¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.

¹⁰ Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.

¹⁶ All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

³⁸ Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on His right hand and the other on His left. ³⁹ And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” ⁴¹ In the same way, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him. ⁴⁵ From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

¹⁷ Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth. ¹⁸ Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.

¹⁹ These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?

⁴³ Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD. ⁴⁴ “Whoever flees the panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.

⁴ The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she herself is bitter with anguish.

¹ How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger. ² Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of the Daughter of Judah. He brought to the ground and defiled her kingdom and its princes. ³ In fierce anger He has cut off every horn of Israel and withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it. ⁴ He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned. Like a foe He has killed all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of the Daughter of Zion. ⁵ The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah. ⁶ He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest. ⁷ The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast. ⁸ The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away. ⁹ Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.

¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

¹⁹ My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.

¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

¹⁸ Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.

¹⁷ But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

¹¹ My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

¹⁸ The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief, and your eyes no rest.

¹ I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit. ² I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

² In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.

¹⁷ You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.

¹⁴ Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine— ¹⁵ the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have raised up for Yourself. ¹⁶ Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

¹⁹ For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth ²⁰ to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,

⁶ On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves, ⁷ nor give Him any rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.

¹ If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

²⁰ Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?

¹ Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace!

¹⁶ O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion. ¹⁹ O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”

³⁴ For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”

³ When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. ⁴ So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

¹⁹ My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle. ²⁰ Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment. ²¹ How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?

²² So this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.

¹⁶ And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them.

¹⁸ If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”

⁹ I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’

¹¹ Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.

⁴¹ As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it ⁴² and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

¹⁰ Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’ ¹¹ See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. See and know that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life. ¹² May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you, but my hand will never be against you. ¹³ As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you. ¹⁴ Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? ¹⁵ May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.”

²⁸ Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹ And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

¹⁸ And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand? ¹⁹ Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ ²⁰ So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

¹ For the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!

⁷ For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

¹⁹ Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.

⁴ Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me—my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.

³ They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.

¹⁶¹ Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart fears only Your word.

¹⁵ The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. ¹⁶ So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison?

⁴ Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.” ⁵ “Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’

¹⁶ So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.

²⁰ But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

⁹ “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city.”

¹⁷ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.

⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

⁶⁶ So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

¹¹ My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart. ¹² They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness. ¹³ If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, ¹⁴ and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ ¹⁵ where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? ¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?”

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck. ² I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.

¹⁵ Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.

⁴ then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us, ⁵ then the raging waters would have swept us away.

¹⁰ I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” ¹¹ I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. ¹² My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me. ¹³ I composed myself until the morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones; from day until night You make an end of me.

¹⁸ So I say, “My strength has perished, along with my hope from the LORD.”

³ For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me. ⁴ At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’ ⁵ The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head.

⁸ We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,

¹¹ So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. ¹² And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.

⁵ The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. ⁶ In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.

¹³ But my prayer to You, O LORD, is for a time of favor. In Your abundant loving devotion, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation. ¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters. ¹⁵ Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me. ¹⁶ Answer me, O LORD, for Your loving devotion is good; turn to me in keeping with Your great compassion. ¹⁷ Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly! ¹⁸ Draw near to my soul and redeem me; ransom me because of my foes.

³ The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow. ⁴ Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, deliver my soul!”

¹ A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! ² O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

³ Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me. ⁴ Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul. ⁵ I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” ⁶ Listen to my cry, for I am brought quite low. Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me. ⁷ Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name. The righteous will gather around me because of Your goodness to me.

² saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.

²⁴ On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”

¹³ And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

¹⁹ His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.

²⁸ They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.

⁴ To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah

⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping. ⁹ The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.

⁶ This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.

¹ For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, and do not ignore my plea.

¹⁹ But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.

¹³ But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You. ¹⁴ Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?

¹ I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy. ² Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.

¹⁸ Draw near to my soul and redeem me; ransom me because of my foes.

¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.

¹⁰ Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

¹⁴ Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹ Now this is what the LORD says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine! ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

¹⁷ Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent.

²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

⁸ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

³⁹ On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.

²² The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

²³ When I sing praise to You my lips will shout for joy, along with my soul, which You have redeemed.

⁴ who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,

³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.

³⁶ Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.

⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

⁴ For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.

¹ Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

¹ Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.

²³ Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!

¹ Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.

¹⁹ For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” ²⁰ O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause. ²¹ Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand.”

¹⁰ Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

¹⁸ Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.” ¹⁹ Attend to me, O LORD. Hear what my accusers are saying! ²⁰ Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them. ²¹ Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. ²² Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. ²³ But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.

⁷ You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. ⁸ For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. ⁹ If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. ¹⁰ For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

¹ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. ² But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. ³ Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. ⁵ Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem. ⁶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, will go back to its own land of Egypt. ⁸ Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. ⁹ This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not! ¹⁰ Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.” ¹¹ When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. ¹³ But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” ¹⁴ “That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials. ¹⁵ The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. ¹⁶ So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time. ¹⁷ Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸ Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’? ²⁰ But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.” ²¹ So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

²³ When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

¹⁴ But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁹ For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” ²⁰ O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.

⁵⁹ You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause!

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.

⁸ “I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.

⁷ See what they spew from their mouths—sharp words from their lips: “For who can hear us?”

¹² By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.

³ They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah

¹⁸ Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

³ therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,

⁹ And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

² You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

⁴ Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.

²⁰ O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.

²⁹ Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”

⁶ Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

¹⁵ ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁶ ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁷ ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁸ ‘Cursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the road.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁹ ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁰ ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²¹ ‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²² ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²³ ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁴ ‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁵ ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ ²⁶ ‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁷ The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him. ¹⁸ The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.

¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

²² If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!

²⁴ He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.

¹⁹ When the LORD your God gives you rest from the enemies around you in the land that He is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

²⁷ and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

³ When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—

⁶ May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.

¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak this way,” then I would have betrayed Your children.

¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.

¹ This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?

¹¹ Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”

⁴³ You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without pity.