Bible Browser

Psalm 69

1  Save me, O God, ♦︎
   for the waters have come up, even to my neck.
2  I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold; ♦︎
   I have come into deep waters and the flood sweeps over me.
3  I have grown weary with crying; my throat is raw; ♦︎
   my eyes have failed from looking so long for my God.
4  Those who hate me without any cause ♦︎
   are more than the hairs of my head;
5  Those who would destroy me are mighty; ♦︎
   my enemies accuse me falsely:
      must I now give back what I never stole?
6  O God, you know my foolishness, ♦︎
   and my faults are not hidden from you.
7  Let not those who hope in you
      be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; ♦︎
   let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me,
      O God of Israel.
8  For your sake have I suffered reproach; ♦︎
   shame has covered my face.
9  I have become a stranger to my kindred, ♦︎
   an alien to my mother’s children.
10  Zeal for your house has eaten me up; ♦︎
   the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
11  I humbled myself with fasting, ♦︎
   but that was turned to my reproach.
12  I put on sackcloth also ♦︎
   and became a byword among them.
13  Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, ♦︎
   and the drunkards make songs about me.
14  But as for me, I make my prayer to you, O Lord; ♦︎
   at an acceptable time, O God.
15  Answer me, O God, in the abundance of your mercy ♦︎
   and with your sure salvation.
16  Draw me out of the mire, that I sink not; ♦︎
   let me be rescued from those who hate me
      and out of the deep waters.
17  Let not the water flood drown me,
      neither the deep swallow me up; ♦︎
   let not the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
18  Answer me, Lord, for your loving-kindness is good; ♦︎
   turn to me in the multitude of your mercies.
19  Hide not your face from your servant; ♦︎
   be swift to answer me, for I am in trouble.
20  Draw near to my soul and redeem me; ♦︎
   deliver me because of my enemies.
21  You know my reproach, my shame and my dishonour; ♦︎
   my adversaries are all in your sight.
22  Reproach has broken my heart; I am full of heaviness. ♦︎
   I looked for some to have pity, but there was no one,
      neither found I any to comfort me.
23  They gave me gall to eat, ♦︎
   and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
24  Let the table before them be a trap ♦︎
   and their sacred feasts a snare.
25  Let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, ♦︎
   and give them continual trembling in their loins.
26  Pour out your indignation upon them, ♦︎
   and let the heat of your anger overtake them.
27  Let their camp be desolate, ♦︎
   and let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
28  For they persecute the one whom you have stricken, ♦︎
   and increase the sorrows of him whom you have pierced.
29  Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, ♦︎
   and let them not receive your vindication.
30  Let them be wiped out of the book of the living ♦︎
   and not be written among the righteous.
31  As for me, I am poor and in misery; ♦︎
   your saving help, O God, will lift me up.
32  I will praise the name of God with a song; ♦︎
   I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
33  This will please the Lord more than an offering of oxen, ♦︎
   more than bulls with horns and hooves.
34  The humble shall see and be glad; ♦︎
   you who seek God, your heart shall live.
35  For the Lord listens to the needy, ♦︎
   and his own who are imprisoned he does not despise.
36  Let the heavens and the earth praise him, ♦︎
   the seas and all that moves in them;
37  For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; ♦︎
   they shall live there and have it in possession.
38  The children of his servants shall inherit it, ♦︎
   and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured

10 Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. ¹¹The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life^* for good, surely I have imposed enemies on you in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.^{* 12}Can iron and bronze break iron from the north?

13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. ¹⁴I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn for ever.
¹⁵ O Lord, you know;
   remember me and visit me,
   and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
   know that on your account I suffer insult.
¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them,
   and your words became to me a joy
   and the delight of my heart;
for I am called by your name,
   O Lord, God of hosts.
¹⁷ I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
   nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
   for you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing,
   my wound incurable,
   refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
   like waters that fail.

¹⁹ Therefore, thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
   and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
   you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
   not you who will turn to them.
²⁰ And I will make you to this people
   a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
   but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
   to save you and deliver you,

says the Lord.
²¹ I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
   and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

48 The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ ⁴⁹Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon; but I honour my Father, and you dishonour me. ⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. ⁵¹Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ ⁵²The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ ⁵⁴Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, ⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’^{* 58}Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.