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Psalm 122

1  I was glad when they said to me, ♦︎
   ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’
2  And now our feet are standing ♦︎
   within your gates, O Jerusalem;
3  Jerusalem, built as a city ♦︎
   that is at unity in itself.
4  Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, ♦︎
   as is decreed for Israel,
      to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5  For there are set the thrones of judgement, ♦︎
   the thrones of the house of David.
6  O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ♦︎
   ‘May they prosper who love you.
7  ‘Peace be within your walls ♦︎
   and tranquillity within your palaces.’
8  For my kindred and companions’ sake, ♦︎
   I will pray that peace be with you.
9  For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, ♦︎
   I will seek to do you good.

15 ‘And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made your name renowned even to this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly. ¹⁶O Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath, we pray, turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a disgrace among all our neighbours. ¹⁷Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, and for your own sake, Lord,^* let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary. ¹⁸Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies. ¹⁹O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name!’

Friendship with the World

4Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? ²You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet^* something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. ⁴Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God^* yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? ⁶But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,
‘God opposes the proud,
   but gives grace to the humble.’
⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.