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Psalm 31

Prayer and Praise for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
¹ In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
   do not let me ever be put to shame;
   in your righteousness deliver me.
² Incline your ear to me;
   rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
   a strong fortress to save me.

³ You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
⁴ take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

¹⁵ My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
¹⁶ Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love.

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

2Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. ²Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— ³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and ⁵like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in scripture:
‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
   a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him^* will not be put to shame.’
⁷To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the very head of the corner’,
⁸and
‘A stone that makes them stumble,
   and a rock that makes them fall.’
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,^* in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
¹⁰ Once you were not a people,
   but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
   but now you have received mercy.