Psalm 102

English Standard Version

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is ^(A)faint and ^(B)pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 ^(C)Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry ^(D)come to you!
²^(E)Do not hide your face from me
in ^(F)the day of my distress!
^(G)Incline your ear to me;
^(H)answer me speedily ^(I)in the day when I call!

³For my days ^(J)pass away like smoke,
    and my ^(K)bones burn like a furnace.
⁴My heart is ^(L)struck down like grass and ^(M)has withered;
    I ^(N)forget to eat my bread.
⁵Because of my loud groaning
    my ^(O)bones cling to my flesh.
⁶I am like ^(P)a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷I ^(Q)lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who ^(R)deride me ^(S)use my name for a curse.
⁹For I eat ashes like bread
    and ^(T)mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have ^(U)taken me up and ^(V)thrown me down.
¹¹My days are like ^(W)an evening shadow;
    I ^(X)wither away like grass.

¹²But you, O Lord, are ^(Y)enthroned forever;
    you ^(Z)are remembered throughout all generations.
¹³You will ^(AA)arise and have ^(AB)pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    ^(AC)the appointed time has come.
¹⁴For your servants hold her ^(AD)stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵Nations will ^(AE)fear the name of the Lord,
    and all ^(AF)the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord ^(AG)builds up Zion;
    he ^(AH)appears in his glory;
¹⁷he ^(AI)regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be ^(AJ)recorded for ^(AK)a generation to come,
    so that ^(AL)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
¹⁹that he ^(AM)looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰to hear ^(AN)the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free ^(AO)those who were doomed to die,
²¹that they may ^(AP)declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
²²when ^(AQ)peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he ^(AR)has shortened my days.
²⁴“O my God,” ^(AS)I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
^(AT)you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”

²⁵^(AU)Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and ^(AV)the heavens are the work of your hands.
²⁶^(AW)They will perish, but ^(AX)you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
²⁷    but ^(AY)you are the same, and your years have no end.
²⁸^(AZ)The children of your servants ^(BA)shall dwell secure;
    ^(BB)their offspring shall be established before you.

Footnotes

Psalm 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain

Jeremiah 23:9-15

English Standard Version

Lying Prophets

⁹Concerning the prophets:

^(A)My heart is broken within me;
    ^(B)all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
    like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
    and because of his holy words.
¹⁰^(C)For the land is full of adulterers;
    ^(D)because of the curse ^(E)the land mourns,
    and ^(F)the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
^(G)Their course is evil,
    and their might is not right.
¹¹^(H)“Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
    even ^(I)in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
¹²^(J)Therefore their way shall be to them
    like slippery paths ^(K)in the darkness,
    into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
    ^(L)in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
¹³In the prophets of ^(M)Samaria
    ^(N)I saw an unsavory thing:
^(O)they prophesied by Baal
    ^(P)and led my people Israel astray.
¹⁴But in the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen a horrible thing:
^(Q)they commit adultery and walk in lies;
    ^(R)they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
    so that no one turns from his evil;
^(S)all of them have become like Sodom to me,
    ^(T)and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
^(U)“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
    ^(V)and give them ^(W)poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

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Romans 9:1-18

English Standard Version

God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(A)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ²that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For ^(B)I could wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh. ⁴They are ^(E)Israelites, and to them belong ^(F)the adoption, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the law, ^(J)the worship, and ^(K)the promises. ⁵To them belong ^(L)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(M)who is God over all, ^(N)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷and not all are children of Abraham ^(O)because they are his offspring, but ^(P)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(Q)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹For this is what the promise said: ^(R)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰And not only so, but ^(S)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(T)him who calls— ¹²she was told, ^(U)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³As it is written, ^(V)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴What shall we say then? ^(W)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵For he says to Moses, ^(X)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[b] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(Y)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

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Footnotes

Romans 9:3 Or brothers and sisters
Romans 9:16 Greek not of him who wills or runs

John 6:60-71

English Standard Version

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰^(A)When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, ^(B)knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see ^(C)the Son of Man ^(D)ascending to ^(E)where he was before? ⁶³^(F)It is the Spirit who gives life; ^(G)the flesh is no help at all. ^(H)The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But ^(I)there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus ^(J)knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and ^(K)who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, “This is why I told you ^(L)that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

⁶⁶^(M)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to ^(N)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(O)the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and ^(P)we have believed, and have come to know, that ^(Q)you are ^(R)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, ^(S)“Did I not choose you, ^(T)the twelve? And yet one of you is ^(U)a devil.” ⁷¹He spoke of Judas ^(V)the son of Simon Iscariot, for ^(W)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.