Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord

A Psalm of David, (A)for the memorial offering.

38 O Lord, (B)rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your (C)arrows have sunk into me,
    and your hand (D)has come down on me.

There is (E)no soundness in my flesh
    because of your indignation;
there is no health in my (F)bones
    because of my sin.
For my (G)iniquities have gone over my head;
    like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

My wounds stink and fester
    because of my foolishness,
I am (H)utterly bowed down and (I)prostrate;
    all the day I (J)go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
    and there is (K)no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
    I (L)groan because of the tumult of my heart.

O Lord, all my longing is before you;
    my (M)sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
    and (N)the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My (O)friends and companions (P)stand aloof from my (Q)plague,
    and my nearest kin (R)stand far off.

12 Those who seek my life (S)lay their snares;
    those who seek my hurt (T)speak of ruin
    and meditate (U)treachery all day long.

13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
    like (V)a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
    and in whose mouth are no (W)rebukes.

15 But for (X)you, O Lord, do I wait;
    it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only (Y)let them not rejoice over me,
    who (Z)boast against me when my (AA)foot slips!”

17 For I am (AB)ready to fall,
    and my pain is ever before me.
18 I (AC)confess my iniquity;
    I am (AD)sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
    and many are those who hate me (AE)wrongfully.
20 Those who (AF)render me evil for good
    (AG)accuse me because I (AH)follow after good.

21 Do not forsake me, O Lord!
    O my God, be not (AI)far from me!
22 (AJ)Make haste to help me,
    O Lord, my (AK)salvation!

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

(A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, (B)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, (C)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

(D)“The end[a] has come upon my people Israel;
    I will never again pass by them.
(E)The songs of the temple[b] (F)shall become wailings[c] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
(G)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
(H)“Silence!”

Hear this, (I)you who trample on the needy
    and bring the poor of the land to an end,
saying, “When will (J)the new moon be over,
    that we may sell grain?
And (K)the Sabbath,
    that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (L)the ephah small and the shekel[d] great
    and deal deceitfully with false balances,
that we may buy the poor for (M)silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

The Lord has sworn by (N)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (O)I will never forget any of their deeds.
(P)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
    and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
(Q)and all of it rise like the Nile,
    and be tossed about (R)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

“And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
    (S)“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 (T)I will turn your feasts into mourning
    and all your songs into lamentation;
(U)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
    (V)and baldness on every head;
(W)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
    and the end of it like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
    “when (X)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
    (Y)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 (Z)They shall wander from sea to sea,
    and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
    (AA)but they shall not find it.

13 (AB)“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
    shall (AC)faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by (AD)the Guilt of Samaria,
    and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As (AE)the Way of (AF)Beersheba lives,’
    they shall fall, and never rise again.”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:2 The Hebrew words for end and summer fruit sound alike
  2. Amos 8:3 Or palace
  3. Amos 8:3 Or The singing women of the palace shall wail
  4. Amos 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

17 (A)When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But (B)he laid his right hand on me, (C)saying, “Fear not, (D)I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. (E)I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and (F)I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 (G)Write therefore (H)the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and (I)the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and (J)the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

To the Church in Ephesus

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of (K)him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, (L)who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

(M)“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but (N)have tested those (O)who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up (P)for my name's sake, and you (Q)have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned (R)the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do (S)the works you did at first. If not, (T)I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of (U)the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (V)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (W)To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of (X)the tree of life, which is in (Y)the paradise of God.’

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus (A)said to the crowds and to his disciples, (B)“The scribes and the Pharisees (C)sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, (D)but not the works they do. (E)For they preach, but do not practice. (F)They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. (G)They do all their deeds (H)to be seen by others. For they make (I)their phylacteries broad and (J)their fringes long, and they (K)love the place of honor at feasts and (L)the best seats in the synagogues and (M)greetings in (N)the marketplaces and being called (O)rabbi[b] by others. (P)But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are (Q)all brothers.[c] (R)And call no man your father on earth, for (S)you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, (T)the Christ. 11 (U)The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 (V)Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:4 Some manuscripts omit hard to bear
  2. Matthew 23:7 Rabbi means my teacher, or my master; also verse 8
  3. Matthew 23:8 Or brothers and sisters

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