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Psalm 55

1  Hear my prayer, O God; ♦︎
   hide not yourself from my petition.
2  Give heed to me and answer me; ♦︎
   I am restless in my complaining.
3  I am alarmed at the voice of the enemy ♦︎
   and at the clamour of the wicked;
4  For they would bring down evil upon me ♦︎
   and are set against me in fury.
5  My heart is disquieted within me, ♦︎
   and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
6  Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, ♦︎
   and a horrible dread has overwhelmed me.
7  And I said: ‘O that I had wings like a dove, ♦︎
   for then would I fly away and be at rest.
8  ‘Then would I flee far away ♦︎
   and make my lodging in the wilderness.
9  ‘I would make haste to escape ♦︎
   from the stormy wind and tempest.’
10  Confuse their tongues, O Lord, and divide them, ♦︎
   for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
11  Day and night they go about on her walls; ♦︎
   mischief and trouble are in her midst.
12  Wickedness walks in her streets; ♦︎
   oppression and guile never leave her squares.
13  For it was not an open enemy that reviled me, ♦︎
   for then I could have borne it;
14  Nor was it my adversary that puffed himself up against me, ♦︎
   for then I would have hid myself from him.
15  But it was even you, one like myself, ♦︎
   my companion and my own familiar friend.
16  We took sweet counsel together ♦︎
   and walked with the multitude in the house of God.
17  Let death come suddenly upon them;
      let them go down alive to the Pit; ♦︎
   for wickedness inhabits their dwellings, their very hearts.
18  As for me, I will call upon God ♦︎
   and the Lord will deliver me.
19  In the evening and morning and at noonday
      I will pray and make my supplication, ♦︎
   and he shall hear my voice.
20  He shall redeem my soul in peace
      from the battle waged against me, ♦︎
   for many have come upon me.
21  God, who is enthroned of old,
      will hear and bring them down; ♦︎
   they will not repent, for they have no fear of God.
22  My companion stretched out his hands against his friend ♦︎
   and has broken his covenant;
23  His speech was softer than butter, though war was in his heart; ♦︎
   his words were smoother than oil, yet are they naked swords.
24  Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you, ♦︎
   and will not let the righteous fall for ever.
25  But those that are bloodthirsty and deceitful, O God, ♦︎
   you will bring down to the pit of destruction.
26  They shall not live out half their days, ♦︎
   but my trust shall be in you, O Lord.

²² Thus says the Lord:
See, a people is coming from the land of the north,
   a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
²³ They grasp the bow and the javelin,
   they are cruel and have no mercy,
   their sound is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
   equipped like a warrior for battle,
   against you, O daughter Zion!

²⁴ ‘We have heard news of them,
   our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
   pain as of a woman in labour.
²⁵ Do not go out into the field,
   or walk on the road;
for the enemy has a sword,
   terror is on every side.’

²⁶ O my poor people, put on sackcloth,
   and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only child,
   most bitter lamentation:
for suddenly the destroyer
   will come upon us.

²⁷ I have made you a tester and a refiner^* among my people
   so that you may know and test their ways.
²⁸ They are all stubbornly rebellious,
   going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron,
   all of them act corruptly.
²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely,
   the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
   for the wicked are not removed.
³⁰ They are called ‘rejected silver’,
   for the Lord has rejected them.

Jesus Walks on the Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles,^* they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, ‘It is I;^* do not be afraid.’ ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.

The Bread from Heaven

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.^{* 24}So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ ²⁶Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’