Psalm 88

New International Version

Psalm 88^[a]

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.^[b] A maskil^[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹Lord, you are the God who saves me;^(A)
day and night I cry out^(B) to you.
²May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

³I am overwhelmed with troubles^(C)
    and my life draws near to death.^(D)
⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit;^(E)
    I am like one without strength.^(F)
⁵I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off^(G) from your care.

⁶You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.^(H)
⁷Your wrath^(I) lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.^[d]^(J)
⁸You have taken from me my closest friends^(K)
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined^(L) and cannot escape;^(M)
⁹    my eyes^(N) are dim with grief.

I call^(O) to you, Lord, every day;
    I spread out my hands^(P) to you.
¹⁰Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?^(Q)
¹¹Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness^(R) in Destruction^[e]?
¹²Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³But I cry to you for help,^(S) Lord;
in the morning^(T) my prayer comes before you.^(U)
¹⁴Why, Lord, do you reject^(V) me
and hide your face^(W) from me?

¹⁵From my youth^(X) I have suffered^(Y) and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors^(Z) and am in despair.^(AA)
¹⁶Your wrath^(AB) has swept over me;
    your terrors^(AC) have destroyed me.
¹⁷All day long they surround me like a flood;^(AD)
    they have completely engulfed me.
¹⁸You have taken from me friend^(AE) and neighbor—
    darkness is my closest friend.

Footnotes

Psalm 88:1 In Hebrew texts 88:1-18 is numbered 88:2-19.
Psalm 88:1 Title: Possibly a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”
Psalm 88:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
Psalm 88:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 10.
Psalm 88:11 Hebrew Abaddon

Leviticus 21:1-15

New International Version

Rules for Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,^(A) and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean^(B) for any of his people who die,^(C) ²except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,^(D) his son or daughter, his brother, ³or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.^(E) ⁴He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,^[a] and so defile himself.

⁵“‘Priests must not shave^(F) their heads or shave off the edges of their beards^(G) or cut their bodies.^(H) ⁶They must be holy to their God^(I) and must not profane the name of their God.^(J) Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,^(K) the food of their God,^(L) they are to be holy.^(M)

⁷“‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,^(N) because priests are holy to their God.^(O) ⁸Regard them as holy,^(P) because they offer up the food of your God.^(Q) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.^(R)

⁹“‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.^(S)

¹⁰“‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head^(T) and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,^(U) must not let his hair become unkempt^[b] or tear his clothes.^(V) ¹¹He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.^(W) He must not make himself unclean,^(X) even for his father or mother,^(Y) ¹²nor leave the sanctuary^(Z) of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil^(AA) of his God. I am the Lord.

¹³“‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.^(AB) ¹⁴He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, ¹⁵so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Leviticus 21:4 Or unclean as a leader among his people
Leviticus 21:10 Or not uncover his head

2 Corinthians 8:16-24

New International Version

Titus Sent to Receive the Collection

¹⁶Thanks be to God,^(A) who put into the heart^(B) of Titus^(C) the same concern I have for you. ¹⁷For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.^(D) ¹⁸And we are sending along with him the brother^(E) who is praised by all the churches^(F) for his service to the gospel.^(G) ¹⁹What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us^(H) as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.^(I) ²⁰We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. ²¹For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.^(J)

²²In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus,^(K) he is my partner^(L) and co-worker^(M) among you; as for our brothers,^(N) they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. ²⁴Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you,^(O) so that the churches can see it.