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Psalm 22

Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility

To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
   Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
   and by night, but find no rest.

³ Yet you are holy,
   enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our ancestors trusted;
   they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried, and were saved;
   in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

⁶ But I am a worm, and not human;
   scorned by others, and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock at me;
   they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
⁸ ‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
   let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’

⁹ Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
   you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ On you I was cast from my birth,
   and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
¹¹ Do not be far from me,
   for trouble is near
   and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls encircle me,
   strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me,
   like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
   and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
   it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my mouth^* is dried up like a potsherd,
   and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
   you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ For dogs are all around me;
   a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shrivelled;^*
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my clothes among themselves,
   and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹ But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
   O my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword,
   my life^* from the power of the dog!
²¹   Save me from the mouth of the lion!

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued^* me.
²² I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;^*
   in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
   All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
   stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he did not despise or abhor
   the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,^*
   but heard when I^* cried to him.

²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
   my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
²⁶ The poor^* shall eat and be satisfied;
   those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
   May your hearts live for ever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember
   and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
   shall worship before him.^*
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
   and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ To him,^* indeed, shall all who sleep in^* the earth bow down;
   before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
   and I shall live for him.^*
30 Posterity will serve him;
   future generations will be told about the Lord,
³¹ and^* proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
   saying that he has done it.

Psalm 148

Praise for God’s Universal Glory

¹ Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights!
² Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host!

³ Praise him, sun and moon;
   praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens,
   and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for he commanded and they were created.
⁶ He established them for ever and ever;
   he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.^*

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you sea monsters and all deeps,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and frost,
   stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹ Mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰ Wild animals and all cattle,
   creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹² Young men and women alike,
   old and young together!

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for his people,
   praise for all his faithful,
   for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

The Brothers Come Again, Bringing Benjamin

43Now the famine was severe in the land. ²And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, ‘Go again, buy us a little more food.’ ³But Judah said to him, ‘The man solemnly warned us, saying, “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.” ⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; ⁵but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, “You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.” ’ ⁶Israel said, ‘Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?’ ⁷They replied, ‘The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, “Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?” What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, “Bring your brother down”?’ ⁸Then Judah said to his father Israel, ‘Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die—you and we and also our little ones. ⁹I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame for ever. ¹⁰If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.’

11 Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man—a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹²Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take your brother also, and be on your way again to the man; ¹⁴may God Almighty^* grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.’ ¹⁵So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Directions concerning Marriage

7Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ‘It is well for a man not to touch a woman.’ ²But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶This I say by way of concession, not of command. ⁷I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.

8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. ⁹But if they are not practising self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.