Psalm 142[a]

A maskil[b] of David. When he was in the cave.(A) A prayer.

I cry aloud(B) to the Lord;
    I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.(C)
I pour out before him my complaint;(D)
    before him I tell my trouble.(E)

When my spirit grows faint(F) within me,
    it is you who watch over my way.
In the path where I walk
    people have hidden a snare for me.
Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;
    no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;(G)
    no one cares(H) for my life.

I cry to you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my refuge,(I)
    my portion(J) in the land of the living.”(K)

Listen to my cry,(L)
    for I am in desperate need;(M)
rescue me(N) from those who pursue me,
    for they are too strong(O) for me.
Set me free from my prison,(P)
    that I may praise your name.(Q)
Then the righteous will gather about me
    because of your goodness to me.(R)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 142:1 In Hebrew texts 142:1-7 is numbered 142:2-8.
  2. Psalm 142:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

142 I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.

I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.

I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.

I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.[a](A)

Lord, I have heard(B) of your fame;
    I stand in awe(C) of your deeds, Lord.(D)
Repeat(E) them in our day,
    in our time make them known;
    in wrath remember mercy.(F)

God came from Teman,(G)
    the Holy One(H) from Mount Paran.[b](I)
His glory covered the heavens(J)
    and his praise filled the earth.(K)
His splendor was like the sunrise;(L)
    rays flashed from his hand,
    where his power(M) was hidden.
Plague(N) went before him;
    pestilence followed his steps.
He stood, and shook the earth;
    he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled(O)
    and the age-old hills(P) collapsed(Q)
    but he marches on forever.(R)
I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
    the dwellings of Midian(S) in anguish.(T)

Were you angry with the rivers,(U) Lord?
    Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea(V)
    when you rode your horses
    and your chariots to victory?(W)
You uncovered your bow,
    you called for many arrows.(X)
You split the earth with rivers;
10     the mountains saw you and writhed.(Y)
Torrents of water swept by;
    the deep roared(Z)
    and lifted its waves(AA) on high.

11 Sun and moon stood still(AB) in the heavens
    at the glint of your flying arrows,(AC)
    at the lightning(AD) of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
    and in anger you threshed(AE) the nations.
13 You came out(AF) to deliver(AG) your people,
    to save your anointed(AH) one.
You crushed(AI) the leader of the land of wickedness,
    you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
    when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,(AJ)
gloating as though about to devour
    the wretched(AK) who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea(AL) with your horses,
    churning the great waters.(AM)

16 I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.(AN)
Yet I will wait patiently(AO) for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.

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Footnotes

  1. Habakkuk 3:1 Probably a literary or musical term
  2. Habakkuk 3:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the middle of verse 9 and at the end of verse 13.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.

O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.

Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?

Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

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Though you already know all this,(A) I want to remind you(B) that the Lord[a] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.(C) And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.(D) In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah(E) and the surrounding towns(F) gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.(G)

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.(H) But even the archangel(I) Michael,(J) when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,(K) did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[b](L) 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.(M)

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;(N) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;(O) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.(P)

12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts,(Q) eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.(R) They are clouds without rain,(S) blown along by the wind;(T) autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted(U)—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea,(V) foaming up their shame;(W) wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.(X)

14 Enoch,(Y) the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming(Z) with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones(AA) 15 to judge(AB) everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[c](AC) 16 These people are grumblers(AD) and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires;(AE) they boast(AF) about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A Call to Persevere

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles(AG) of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.(AH) 18 They said to you, “In the last times(AI) there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”(AJ) 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.(AK)

20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up(AL) in your most holy faith(AM) and praying in the Holy Spirit,(AN) 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait(AO) for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.(AP)

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Footnotes

  1. Jude 1:5 Some early manuscripts Jesus
  2. Jude 1:9 Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century a.d.).
  3. Jude 1:15 From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century b.c.)

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

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