Psalm 102

New International Version

Psalm 102^[a]

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.

¹Hear my prayer,^(A) Lord;
    let my cry for help^(B) come to you.
²Do not hide your face^(C) from me
    when I am in distress.
Turn your ear^(D) to me;
    when I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke;^(E)
    my bones^(F) burn like glowing embers.
⁴My heart is blighted and withered like grass;^(G)
    I forget to eat my food.^(H)
⁵In my distress I groan aloud^(I)
    and am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶I am like a desert owl,^(J)
    like an owl among the ruins.
⁷I lie awake;^(K) I have become
    like a bird alone^(L) on a roof.
⁸All day long my enemies^(M) taunt me;^(N)
    those who rail against me use my name as a curse.^(O)
⁹For I eat ashes^(P) as my food
    and mingle my drink with tears^(Q)
¹⁰because of your great wrath,^(R)
    for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹My days are like the evening shadow;^(S)
    I wither^(T) away like grass.

¹²But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;^(U)
    your renown endures^(V) through all generations.^(W)
¹³You will arise^(X) and have compassion^(Y) on Zion,
    for it is time^(Z) to show favor^(AA) to her;
    the appointed time^(AB) has come.
¹⁴For her stones are dear to your servants;
    her very dust moves them to pity.
¹⁵The nations will fear^(AC) the name of the Lord,
    all the kings^(AD) of the earth will revere your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord will rebuild Zion^(AE)
    and appear in his glory.^(AF)
¹⁷He will respond to the prayer^(AG) of the destitute;
    he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸Let this be written^(AH) for a future generation,
    that a people not yet created^(AI) may praise the Lord:
¹⁹“The Lord looked down^(AJ) from his sanctuary on high,
    from heaven he viewed the earth,
²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners^(AK)
    and release those condemned to death.”
²¹So the name of the Lord will be declared^(AL) in Zion
    and his praise^(AM) in Jerusalem
²²when the peoples and the kingdoms
    assemble to worship^(AN) the Lord.

²³In the course of my life^[b] he broke my strength;
    he cut short my days.^(AO)
²⁴So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
    your years go on^(AP) through all generations.
²⁵In the beginning^(AQ) you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens^(AR) are the work of your hands.^(AS)
²⁶They will perish,^(AT) but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
²⁷But you remain the same,^(AU)
    and your years will never end.^(AV)
²⁸The children of your servants^(AW) will live in your presence;
    their descendants^(AX) will be established before you.”

Footnotes

Psalm 102:1 In Hebrew texts 102:1-28 is numbered 102:2-29.
Psalm 102:23 Or By his power

Acts 7:17-29

New International Version

¹⁷“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.^(A) ¹⁸Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’^[a]^(B) ¹⁹He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.^(C)

²⁰“At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.^[b] For three months he was cared for by his family.^(D) ²¹When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.^(E) ²²Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians^(F) and was powerful in speech and action.

²³“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. ²⁶The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

²⁷“But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?^(G) ²⁸Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^[c] ²⁹When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.^(H)

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Footnotes

Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:8
Acts 7:20 Or was fair in the sight of God
Acts 7:28 Exodus 2:14

John 4:43-54

New International Version

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴³After the two days^(A) he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)^(B) ⁴⁵When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,^(C) for they also had been there.

⁴⁶Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.^(D) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,^(E) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸“Unless you people see signs and wonders,”^(F) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵²When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

⁵³Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household^(G) believed.

⁵⁴This was the second sign^(H) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

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