Psalm 38

1  Rebuke me not, O Lord, in your anger, •
   neither chasten me in your heavy displeasure.
2  For your arrows have stuck fast in me •
   and your hand presses hard upon me.
3  There is no health in my flesh
      because of your indignation; •
   there is no peace in my bones because of my sin.
4  For my iniquities have gone over my head; •
   their weight is a burden too heavy to bear.
5  My wounds stink and fester •
   because of my foolishness.
6  I am utterly bowed down and brought very low; •
   I go about mourning all the day long.
7  My loins are filled with searing pain; •
   there is no health in my flesh.
8  I am feeble and utterly crushed; •
   I roar aloud because of the disquiet of my heart.
9  O Lord, you know all my desires •
   and my sighing is not hidden from you.
10  My heart is pounding, my strength has failed me; •
   the light of my eyes is gone from me.
11  My friends and companions stand apart from my affliction; •
   my neighbours stand afar off.
12  Those who seek after my life lay snares for me; •
   and those who would harm me whisper evil
      and mutter slander all the day long.
13  But I am like one who is deaf and hears not, •
   like one that is dumb, who does not open his mouth.
14  I have become like one who does not hear •
   and from whose mouth comes no retort.
15  For in you, Lord, have I put my trust; •
   you will answer me, O Lord my God.
16  For I said, ‘Let them not triumph over me, •
   those who exult over me when my foot slips.’
17  Truly, I am on the verge of falling •
   and my pain is ever with me.
18  I will confess my iniquity •
   and be sorry for my sin.
19  Those that are my enemies without any cause are mighty, •
   and those who hate me wrongfully are many in number.
20  Those who repay evil for good are against me, •
   because the good is what I seek.
21  Forsake me not, O Lord; •
   be not far from me, O my God.
22  Make haste to help me, •
   O Lord of my salvation.

The Humiliation of Babylon

47Come down and sit in the dust,
   virgin daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne,
   daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
   tender and delicate.
² Take the millstones and grind meal,
   remove your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
   pass through the rivers.
³ Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
   and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
   and I will spare no one.
⁴ Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
   is the Holy One of Israel.

⁵ Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
   daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
   the mistress of kingdoms.
⁶ I was angry with my people,
   I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand,
   you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke
   exceedingly heavy.
⁷ You said, ‘I shall be mistress for ever’,
   so that you did not lay these things to heart
   or remember their end.

⁸ Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
   who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
   ‘I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
   or know the loss of children’—
⁹ both these things shall come upon you
   in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood
   shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
   and the great power of your enchantments.

¹⁰ You felt secure in your wickedness;
   you said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and your knowledge
   led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
   ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
¹¹ But evil shall come upon you,
   which you cannot charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
   which you will not be able to ward off;
and ruin shall come on you suddenly,
   of which you know nothing.

¹² Stand fast in your enchantments
   and your many sorceries,
   with which you have laboured from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed,
   perhaps you may inspire terror.
¹³ You are wearied with your many consultations;
   let those who study^* the heavens
stand up and save you,
   those who gaze at the stars
and at each new moon predict
   what^* shall befall you.

¹⁴ See, they are like stubble,
   the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
   from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
   no fire to sit before!
¹⁵ Such to you are those with whom you have laboured,
   who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they all wander about in their own paths;
   there is no one to save you.

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat^* to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. ²²Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet ²³and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ ²⁴So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. ²⁶She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ ²⁹Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ³¹And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ ³²He looked all round to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ ³⁶But overhearing^* what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.