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Psalm 22

1  My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, ♦︎
   and are so far from my salvation,
      from the words of my distress?
2  O my God, I cry in the daytime,
      but you do not answer; ♦︎
   and by night also, but I find no rest.
3  Yet you are the Holy One, ♦︎
   enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4  Our forebears trusted in you; ♦︎
   they trusted, and you delivered them.
5  They cried out to you and were delivered; ♦︎
   they put their trust in you and were not confounded.
6  But as for me, I am a worm and no man, ♦︎
   scorned by all and despised by the people.
7  All who see me laugh me to scorn; ♦︎
   they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,
8  ‘He trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him; ♦︎
   let him deliver him, if he delights in him.’
9  But it is you that took me out of the womb ♦︎
   and laid me safe upon my mother’s breast.
10  On you was I cast ever since I was born; ♦︎
   you are my God even from my mother’s womb.
11  Be not far from me, for trouble is near at hand ♦︎
   and there is none to help.
12  Mighty oxen come around me; ♦︎
   fat bulls of Bashan close me in on every side.
13  They gape upon me with their mouths, ♦︎
   as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.
14  I am poured out like water;
      all my bones are out of joint; ♦︎
   my heart has become like wax
      melting in the depths of my body.
15  My mouth is dried up like a potsherd;
      my tongue cleaves to my gums; ♦︎
   you have laid me in the dust of death.
16  For the hounds are all about me,
      the pack of evildoers close in on me; ♦︎
   they pierce my hands and my feet.
17  I can count all my bones; ♦︎
   they stand staring and looking upon me.
18  They divide my garments among them; ♦︎
   they cast lots for my clothing.
19  Be not far from me, O Lord; ♦︎
   you are my strength; hasten to help me.
20  Deliver my soul from the sword, ♦︎
   my poor life from the power of the dog.
21  Save me from the lion’s mouth,
      from the horns of wild oxen. ♦︎
   You have answered me!
22  I will tell of your name to my people; ♦︎
   in the midst of the congregation will I praise you.
23  Praise the Lord, you that fear him; ♦︎
   O seed of Jacob, glorify him;
      stand in awe of him, O seed of Israel.
24  For he has not despised nor abhorred the suffering of the poor;
      neither has he hidden his face from them; ♦︎
   but when they cried to him he heard them.
25  From you comes my praise in the great congregation; ♦︎
   I will perform my vows
      in the presence of those that fear you.
26  The poor shall eat and be satisfied; ♦︎
   those who seek the Lord shall praise him;
      their hearts shall 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 bow before him.
28  For the kingdom is the Lord’s ♦︎
   and he rules over the nations.
29  How can those who sleep in the earth
      bow down in worship, ♦︎
   or those who go down to the dust kneel before him?
30  He has saved my life for himself;
      my descendants shall serve him; ♦︎
   this shall be told of the Lord for generations to come.
31  They shall come and make known his salvation,
      to a people yet unborn, ♦︎
   declaring that he, the Lord, has done it.

9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.

10 Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

12Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’; ²before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with^* the rain; ³on the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; ⁴when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; ⁵when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along^* and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; ⁶before the silver cord is snapped,^* and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath^* returns to God who gave it. ⁸Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher;^* all is vanity.

Epilogue

9 Besides being wise, the Teacher^* also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs. ¹⁰The Teacher^* sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly.

11 The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings that are given by one shepherd.^{* 12}Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. ¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgement, including^* every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Bacchides Returns to Judea

9When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judah a second time, and with them the right wing of the army. ²They went by the road that leads to Gilgal and encamped against Mesaloth in Arbela, and they took it and killed many people. ³In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year^* they encamped against Jerusalem; ⁴then they marched off and went to Berea with twenty thousand foot-soldiers and two thousand cavalry.

5 Now Judas was encamped in Elasa, and with him were three thousand picked men. ⁶When they saw the huge number of the enemy forces, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from the camp, until no more than eight hundred of them were left.

7 When Judas saw that his army had slipped away and the battle was imminent, he was crushed in spirit, for he had no time to assemble them. ⁸He became faint, but he said to those who were left, ‘Let us get up and go against our enemies. We may have the strength to fight them.’ ⁹But they tried to dissuade him, saying, ‘We do not have the strength. Let us rather save our own lives now, and let us come back with our kindred and fight them; we are too few.’ ¹⁰But Judas said, ‘Far be it from us to do such a thing as to flee from them. If our time has come, let us die bravely for our kindred, and leave no cause to question our honour.’

The Last Battle of Judas

11 Then the army of Bacchides^* marched out from the camp and took its stand for the encounter. The cavalry was divided into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went ahead of the army, as did all the chief warriors. ¹²Bacchides was on the right wing. Flanked by the two companies, the phalanx advanced to the sound of the trumpets; and the men with Judas also blew their trumpets. ¹³The earth was shaken by the noise of the armies, and the battle raged from morning until evening.

14 Judas saw that Bacchides and the strength of his army were on the right; then all the stout-hearted men went with him, ¹⁵and they crushed the right wing, and he pursued them as far as Mount Azotus. ¹⁶When those on the left wing saw that the right wing was crushed, they turned and followed close behind Judas and his men. ¹⁷The battle became desperate, and many on both sides were wounded and fell. ¹⁸Judas also fell, and the rest fled.

19 Then Jonathan and Simon took their brother Judas and buried him in the tomb of their ancestors at Modein, ²⁰and wept for him. All Israel made great lamentation for him; they mourned for many days and said,
²¹ ‘How is the mighty fallen,
   the saviour of Israel!’
²²Now the rest of the acts of Judas, and his wars and the brave deeds that he did, and his greatness, have not been recorded, but they were very many.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

Bear One Another’s Burdens

6My friends,^* if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil^* the law of Christ. ³For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. ⁴All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. ⁵For all must carry their own loads.

6 Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.

7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. ⁸If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.