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Psalm 141

1  O Lord, I call to you; come to me quickly; ♦︎
   hear my voice when I cry to you.
2  Let my prayer rise before you as incense, ♦︎
   the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
3  Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, ♦︎
   and guard the door of my lips;
4  Let not my heart incline to any evil thing; ♦︎
   let me not be occupied in wickedness with evildoers,
      nor taste the pleasures of their table.
5  Let the righteous smite me in friendly rebuke;
      but let not the oil of the unrighteous anoint my head; ♦︎
   for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
6  Let their rulers be overthrown in stony places; ♦︎
   then they may know that my words are sweet.
7  As when a plough turns over the earth in furrows, ♦︎
   let their bones be scattered at the mouth of the Pit.
8  But my eyes are turned to you, Lord God; ♦︎
   in you I take refuge; do not leave me defenceless.
9  Protect me from the snare which they have laid for me ♦︎
   and from the traps of the evildoers.
10  Let the wicked fall into their own nets, ♦︎
   while I pass by in safety.

God Will Restore Israel

14 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles,^* the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while^* in the countries where they have gone. ¹⁷Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. ¹⁸When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. ¹⁹I will give them one^* heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations,^* I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.

22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. ²³And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city. ²⁴The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. ²⁵And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Rules for the New Life

25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. ²⁶Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and do not make room for the devil. ²⁸Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. ²⁹Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up,^* as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. ³¹Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, ³²and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.^* 5¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and live in love, as Christ loved us^* and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.