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Psalm 41

Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
¹ Happy are those who consider the poor;^*
   the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
² The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
   they are called happy in the land.
   You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.
³ The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
   in their illness you heal all their infirmities.^*

⁴ As for me, I said, ‘O Lord, be gracious to me;
   heal me, for I have sinned against you.’
⁵ My enemies wonder in malice
   when I will die, and my name perish.
⁶ And when they come to see me, they utter empty words,
   while their hearts gather mischief;
   when they go out, they tell it abroad.
⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me;
   they imagine the worst for me.

⁸ They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
   that I will not rise again from where I lie.
⁹ Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,
   who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.
¹⁰ But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
   and raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹ By this I know that you are pleased with me;
   because my enemy has not triumphed over me.
¹² But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
   and set me in your presence for ever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.

Psalm 52

Judgement on the Deceitful

To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’
¹ Why do you boast, O mighty one,
   of mischief done against the godly?^*
   All day long ²you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
   you worker of treachery.
³ You love evil more than good,
   and lying more than speaking the truth.
          Selah
⁴ You love all words that devour,
   O deceitful tongue.

⁵ But God will break you down for ever;
   he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
   he will uproot you from the land of the living.
          Selah
⁶ The righteous will see, and fear,
   and will laugh at the evildoer,^* saying,
⁷ ‘See the one who would not take
   refuge in God,
but trusted in abundant riches,
   and sought refuge in wealth!’^*

⁸ But I am like a green olive tree
   in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
   for ever and ever.
⁹ I will thank you for ever,
   because of what you have done.
In the presence of the faithful
   I will proclaim^* your name, for it is good.

The Sin of Achan and Its Punishment

7But the Israelites broke faith in regard to the devoted things: Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things; and the anger of the Lord burned against the Israelites.

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, ‘Go up and spy out the land.’ And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, ‘Not all the people need go up; about two or three thousand men should go up and attack Ai. Since they are so few, do not make the whole people toil up there.’ ⁴So about three thousand of the people went up there; and they fled before the men of Ai. ⁵The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, chasing them from outside the gate as far as Shebarim and killing them on the slope. The hearts of the people failed and turned to water.

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. ⁷Joshua said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Why have you brought this people across the Jordan at all, to hand us over to the Amorites so as to destroy us? Would that we had been content to settle beyond the Jordan! ⁸O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned their backs to their enemies! ⁹The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will you do for your great name?’

10 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! Why have you fallen upon your face? ¹¹Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I imposed on them. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have acted deceitfully, and they have put them among their own belongings. ¹²Therefore the Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they turn their backs to their enemies, because they have become a thing devoted for destruction themselves. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. ¹³Proceed to sanctify the people, and say, “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘There are devoted things among you, O Israel; you will be unable to stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.’

Being Subject to Authorities

13Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority^* does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.

Love for One Another

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

An Urgent Appeal

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; ¹³let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ ³⁷He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. ³⁸Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ ³⁹And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ ⁴⁰Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? ⁴¹Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;^* the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ ⁴²Again he went away for the second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ ⁴³Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’