Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

²⁷ “When you tell^(A) them all this, they will not listen^(B) to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.^{(C) 28} Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.^(D) Truth^(E) has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

²⁹ “‘Cut off^(F) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament^(G) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned^(H) this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰ “‘The people of Judah have done evil^(I) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols^(J) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled^(K) it. ³¹ They have built the high places of Topheth^(L) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^(M) to burn their sons and daughters^(N) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.^{(O) 32} So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter,^(P) for they will bury^(Q) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ³³ Then the carcasses^(R) of this people will become food^(S) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^{(T) 34} I will bring an end to the sounds^(U) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom^(V) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,^(W) for the land will become desolate.^(X)

The Cost of Following Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.^{(B) 19} Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man^(C) has no place to lay his head.”

²¹ Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me,^(D) and let the dead bury their own dead.”