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Psalm 56

1  Have mercy on me, O God, for they trample over me; ♦︎
   all day long they assault and oppress me.
2  My adversaries trample over me all the day long; ♦︎
   many are they that make proud war against me.
3  In the day of my fear I put my trust in you, ♦︎
   in God whose word I praise.
4  In God I trust, and will not fear, ♦︎
   for what can flesh do to me?
5  All day long they wound me with words; ♦︎
   their every thought is to do me evil.
6  They stir up trouble; they lie in wait; ♦︎
   marking my steps, they seek my life.
7  Shall they escape for all their wickedness? ♦︎
   In anger, O God, cast the peoples down.
8  You have counted up my groaning;
      put my tears into your bottle; ♦︎
   are they not written in your book?
9  Then shall my enemies turn back
      on the day when I call upon you; ♦︎
   this I know, for God is on my side.
10  In God whose word I praise,
      in the Lord whose word I praise, ♦︎
   in God I trust and will not fear:
      what can flesh do to me?
11  To you, O God, will I fulfil my vows; ♦︎
   to you will I present my offerings of thanks,
12  For you will deliver my soul from death
      and my feet from falling, ♦︎
   that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

The Linen Loincloth

13Thus said the Lord to me, ‘Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.’ ²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins. ³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, ⁴‘Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates,^* and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.’ ⁵So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates,^* as the Lord commanded me. ⁶And after many days the Lord said to me, ‘Go now to the Euphrates,^* and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.’ ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates,^* and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹Thus says the Lord: Just so I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.

Exile Threatened

¹⁵ Hear and give ear; do not be haughty,
   for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶ Give glory to the Lord your God
   before he brings darkness,
and before your feet stumble
   on the mountains at twilight;
while you look for light,
   he turns it into gloom
   and makes it deep darkness.
¹⁷ But if you will not listen,
   my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
   because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸ Say to the king and the queen mother:
   ‘Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
   has come down from your head.’^*
19 The towns of the Negeb are shut up
   with no one to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
   wholly taken into exile.

²⁰ Lift up your eyes and see
   those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
   your beautiful flock?
²¹ What will you say when they set as head over you
   those whom you have trained
   to be your allies?
Will not pangs take hold of you,
   like those of a woman in labour?
²² And if you say in your heart,
   ‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
   that your skirts are lifted up,
   and you are violated.
²³ Can Ethiopians^* change their skin
   or leopards their spots?
Then also you can do good
   who are accustomed to do evil.
²⁴ I will scatter you^* like chaff
   driven by the wind from the desert.
²⁵ This is your lot,
   the portion I have measured out to you, says the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
   and trusted in lies.
²⁶ I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
   and your shame will be seen.
²⁷ I have seen your abominations,
   your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions
   on the hills of the countryside.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
   How long will it be
   before you are made clean?

⁴⁷Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.’

48 The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?’ ⁴⁹Jesus answered, ‘I do not have a demon; but I honour my Father, and you dishonour me. ⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. ⁵¹Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ ⁵²The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?’ ⁵⁴Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, “He is our God”, ⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’^{* 58}Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.