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Psalm 88

Prayer for Help in Despondency

A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
¹ O Lord, God of my salvation,
   when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
² let my prayer come before you;
   incline your ear to my cry.

³ For my soul is full of troubles,
   and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
   I am like those who have no help,
⁵ like those forsaken among the dead,
   like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
   for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶ You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
   in the regions dark and deep.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
   and you overwhelm me with all your waves.
          Selah

⁸ You have caused my companions to shun me;
   you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹   my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
   I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead?
   Do the shades rise up to praise you?
          Selah
¹¹ Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
   or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness,
   or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³ But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
   in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ O Lord, why do you cast me off?
   Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
   I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.^*
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
   your dread assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long;
   from all sides they close in on me.
¹⁸ You have caused friend and neighbour to shun me;
   my companions are in darkness.

Psalm 91

Assurance of God’s Protection

¹ You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
   who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,^*
2 will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
   my God, in whom I trust.’
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
   and from the deadly pestilence;
⁴ he will cover you with his pinions,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night,
   or the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
   or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,^*
   the Most High your dwelling-place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
   the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
   I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
   I will be with them in trouble,
   I will rescue them and honour them.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
   and show them my salvation.

Psalm 92

Thanksgiving for Vindication

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.
¹ It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
   to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
² to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
   and your faithfulness by night,
³ to the music of the lute and the harp,
   to the melody of the lyre.
⁴ For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
   at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

⁵ How great are your works, O Lord!
   Your thoughts are very deep!
⁶ The dullard cannot know,
   the stupid cannot understand this:
⁷ though the wicked sprout like grass
   and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction for ever,
⁸   but you, O Lord, are on high for ever.
⁹ For your enemies, O Lord,
   for your enemies shall perish;
   all evildoers shall be scattered.

¹⁰ But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
   you have poured over me^* fresh oil.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
   my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

¹² The righteous flourish like the palm tree,
   and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ They are planted in the house of the Lord;
   they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ In old age they still produce fruit;
   they are always green and full of sap,
¹⁵ showing that the Lord is upright;
   he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

God’s Spirit Poured Out

^{28 *}Then afterwards
   I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
   your old men shall dream dreams,
   and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ Even on the male and female slaves,
   in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30 I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. ³²Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

3^*For then, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ²I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgement with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my land, ³and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down.

4 What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads swiftly and speedily. ⁵For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.^{* 6}You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. ⁷But now I will rouse them to leave the places to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. ⁸I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the Lord has spoken.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved.^*

17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^{* 18}In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 You must understand this, my beloved:^* let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves^* in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16Then Jesus^* said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ²So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” ³Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” ⁶He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” ⁷Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth^* so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.^*