Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Tola and Jair

10 After Abimelech there arose to ^(A)save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in ^(B)the hill country of Ephraim. ² And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir.

³ After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ And he had thirty sons who ^(C)rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, ^(D)which are in the land of Gilead. ⁵ And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Further Disobedience and Oppression

^6 (E)The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(F)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, ^(G)the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they ^(H)forsook the Lord and did not serve him. ⁷ So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and ^(I)he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, ⁸ and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. ⁹ And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

¹⁰ And the people of Israel ^(J)cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because ^(K)we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you ^(L)from the Egyptians and ^(M)from the Amorites, ^(N)from the Ammonites and ^(O)from the Philistines? ¹² The Sidonians also, and ^(P)the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I ^(Q)saved you out of their hand. ¹³ Yet you have ^(R)forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. ¹⁴ Go and cry out ^(S)to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” ¹⁵ And the people of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” ¹⁶ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and ^(T)he became impatient over the misery of Israel.

¹⁷ Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at ^(U)Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? ^(V)He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Greeting

1 ^(A)Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

^3 (B)We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,^[a] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore ^(C)we ourselves boast about you ^(D)in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^(E)in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

⁵ This is ^(F)evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^(G)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶ since indeed God considers it ^(H)just ^(I)to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to grant ^(J)relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^(K)the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^(L)with his mighty angels ^8 (M)in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ^(N)who do not know God and on those who ^(O)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the punishment of ^(P)eternal destruction, ^(Q)away from^[b] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ^10 (R)when he comes on ^(S)that day ^(T)to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^(U)testimony to you ^(V)was believed. ¹¹ To this end we ^(W)always pray for you, that our God may ^(X)make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^(Y)work of faith by his power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^(Z)may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.