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Psalm 142

1  I cry aloud to the Lord; ♦︎
   to the Lord I make my supplication.
2  I pour out my complaint before him ♦︎
   and tell him of my trouble.
3  When my spirit faints within me, you know my path; ♦︎
   in the way wherein I walk have they laid a snare for me.
4  I look to my right hand, and find no one who knows me; ♦︎
   I have no place to flee to, and no one cares for my soul.
5  I cry out to you, O Lord, and say: ♦︎
   ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
6  ‘Listen to my cry, for I am brought very low; ♦︎
   save me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
7  ‘Bring my soul out of prison,
      that I may give thanks to your name; ♦︎
   when you have dealt bountifully with me,
      then shall the righteous gather around me.’

¹⁵ For the day of the Lord is near against all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
   your deeds shall return on your own head.
¹⁶ For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
   all the nations around you shall drink;
they shall drink and gulp down,^*
   and shall be as though they had never been.

Israel’s Final Triumph

¹⁷ But on Mount Zion there shall be those that escape,
   and it shall be holy;
and the house of Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them.
¹⁸ The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
   the house of Joseph a flame,
   and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
   and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau;

for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁹ Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
   and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
   and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
²⁰ The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah^*
   shall possess^* Phoenicia as far as Zarephath;
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
   shall possess the towns of the Negeb.
²¹ Those who have been saved^* shall go up to Mount Zion
   to rule Mount Esau;
   and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

The Purpose of the Parables

10 Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ ¹¹He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets^* of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ¹³The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.” ¹⁴With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
   and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull,
   and their ears are hard of hearing,
     and they have shut their eyes;
     so that they might not look with their eyes,
   and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn—
   and I would heal them.”
¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.