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Psalm 5

1  Give ear to my words, O Lord; ♦︎
   consider my lamentation.
2  Hearken to the voice of my crying, my King and my God, ♦︎
   for to you I make my prayer.
3  In the morning, Lord, you will hear my voice; ♦︎
   early in the morning I make my appeal to you, and look up.
4  For you are the God who takes no pleasure in wickedness; ♦︎
   no evil can dwell with you.
5  The boastful cannot stand in your sight; ♦︎
   you hate all those that work wickedness.
6  You destroy those who speak lies; ♦︎
   the bloodthirsty and deceitful the Lord will abhor.
7  But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy,
      I will come into your house; ♦︎
   I will bow down towards your holy temple in awe of you.
8  Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness,
      because of my enemies; ♦︎
   make your way straight before my face.
9  For there is no truth in their mouth,
      in their heart is destruction, ♦︎
   their throat is an open sepulchre,
      and they flatter with their tongue.
10  Punish them, O God; ♦︎
   let them fall through their own devices.
11  Because of their many transgressions cast them out, ♦︎
   for they have rebelled against you.
12  But let all who take refuge in you be glad; ♦︎
   let them sing out their joy for ever.
13  You will shelter them, ♦︎
   so that those who love your name may exult in you.
14  For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous; ♦︎
   and with your favour you will defend them as with a shield.

Restoration of Judah and Israel

10Ask rain from the Lord
   in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm-clouds,
   who gives showers of rain to you,^*
   the vegetation in the field to everyone.
² For the teraphim^* utter nonsense,
   and the diviners see lies;
the dreamers tell false dreams,
   and give empty consolation.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;
   they suffer for lack of a shepherd.

³ My anger is hot against the shepherds,
   and I will punish the leaders;^*
for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
   and will make them like his proud warhorse.
⁴ Out of them shall come the cornerstone,
   out of them the tent-peg,
out of them the battle-bow,
   out of them every commander.
⁵ Together they shall be like warriors in battle,
   trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
they shall fight, for the Lord is with them,
   and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.

⁶ I will strengthen the house of Judah,
   and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back because I have compassion on them,
   and they shall be as though I had not rejected them;
   for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
⁷ Then the people of Ephraim shall become like warriors,
   and their hearts shall be glad as with wine.
Their children shall see it and rejoice,
   their hearts shall exult in the Lord.

⁸ I will signal for them and gather them in,
   for I have redeemed them,
   and they shall be as numerous as they were before.
⁹ Though I scattered them among the nations,
   yet in far countries they shall remember me,
   and they shall rear their children and return.
¹⁰ I will bring them home from the land of Egypt,
   and gather them from Assyria;
I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon,
   until there is no room for them.
¹¹ They^* shall pass through the sea of distress,
   and the waves of the sea shall be struck down,
   and all the depths of the Nile dried up.
The pride of Assyria shall be laid low,
   and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart.
¹² I will make them strong in the Lord,
   and they shall walk in his name,

says the Lord.

Temptations to Sin

6 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. ⁷Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!

8 ‘If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell^* of fire.