Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.

For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

85 Lord, You showed (A)favor to Your land;
You (B)restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You (C)forgave the guilt of Your people;
You (D)covered all their sin. Selah
You (E)withdrew all Your fury;
You (F)turned away from Your burning anger.

(G)Restore us, God of our salvation,
And (H)cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
Will (I)You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to [a]all generations?
Will You not [b](J)revive us again,
So that Your people may (K)rejoice in You?
Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And (L)grant us Your salvation.

[c]I will hear what God the Lord will say;
For He will (M)speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
And may they not (N)turn back to [d]foolishness.
Certainly (O)His salvation is near to those who [e]fear Him,
That (P)glory may dwell in our land.
10 (Q)Graciousness and [f]truth have met together;
(R)Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 [g]Truth (S)sprouts from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Indeed, (T)the Lord will give what is good,
And our (U)land will yield its produce.
13 (V)Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 85:5 Lit generation and generation
  2. Psalm 85:6 Or bring to life
  3. Psalm 85:8 Or Let me hear
  4. Psalm 85:8 I.e., foolish self-confidence
  5. Psalm 85:9 Or revere
  6. Psalm 85:10 Or faithfulness
  7. Psalm 85:11 Or Faithfulness

11 And the (A)sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be (B)gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves (C)one leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For the day of Jezreel will be great.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Condemned

[a]Say to your brothers, “[b]Ammi,” and to your sisters, “[c]Ruhamah.”

“Dispute with your mother, (D)dispute,
Because she is (E)not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her (F)infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
Otherwise, I will strip her (G)naked
And expose her as on the (H)day she was born.
I will also (I)make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with (J)thirst.
Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are (K)children of infidelity.
For their mother has (L)committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘(M)I will go after my lovers,
Who (N)give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my (O)oil and my drink.’
Therefore, behold, I will (P)obstruct [d]her way with (Q)thorns,
And I will build [e]a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her (R)paths.
And she will (S)pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘(T)I will go back to my (U)first husband,
Because it was (V)better for me then than now!’

“Yet she does (W)not know that it was (X)I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they [f]used for Baal.
Therefore, I will [g](Y)take back My grain at [h]harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will (Z)uncover her [i]lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also (AA)put an end to all her joy,
Her (AB)feasts, her (AC)new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will (AD)destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will (AE)turn them into a forest,
And the (AF)animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the (AG)days of the Baals
When she used to [j](AH)offer sacrifices to them
And (AI)adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she (AJ)forgot Me,” declares the Lord.

Restoration of Israel

14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
(AK)Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak [k]kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her (AL)vineyards from there,
And (AM)the [l]Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [m](AN)respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (AO)day when she went up from the land of Egypt.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Heb
  2. Hosea 2:1 I.e., my people
  3. Hosea 2:1 I.e., she has obtained compassion
  4. Hosea 2:6 As in some ancient versions; MT your
  5. Hosea 2:6 Lit her stone wall so that
  6. Hosea 2:8 Or made into the
  7. Hosea 2:9 Lit return and take My
  8. Hosea 2:9 Lit its time
  9. Hosea 2:10 Or shame
  10. Hosea 2:13 Or burn incense
  11. Hosea 2:14 Lit upon her heart
  12. Hosea 2:15 Lit Valley of Trouble
  13. Hosea 2:15 Or give answer

Jesus Stills the Sea

22 (A)Now on one of those days [a]Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of (B)the lake.” So they launched out. 23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on (C)the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. 24 They came up to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “(D)Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and (E)rebuked the wind and the surging [b]waves, and they stopped, and [c]it became calm. 25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” But they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 8:22 Lit He
  2. Luke 8:24 Lit waves of water
  3. Luke 8:24 Lit a calm occurred

Thanksgiving for the Lords Favor.

A Psalm of David.

138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.

(H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.

Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 138:2 Or faithfulness
  2. Psalm 138:2 Or promise
  3. Psalm 138:2 Or together with
  4. Psalm 138:7 Or keep me alive

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot

When Mordecai learned of (A)everything that had been done, [a]he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. And he came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with (B)fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.

Then Esther’s attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her, and the queen was seized by great fear. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he would remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them. Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom [b]the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this mourning was and why it was happening. So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square, in front of the king’s gate. Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, and (C)the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the elimination of the Jews. He also gave him (D)a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their annihilation, so that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and plead with him for her people.

So Hathach came back and reported Mordecai’s words to Esther. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who (E)comes to the king in the inner courtyard, who is not summoned, (F)he has only one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out (G)to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” 12 And they reported Esther’s words to Mordecai.

13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and (H)rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther Plans to Intercede

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; (I)do not eat or drink for (J)three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

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Footnotes

  1. Esther 4:1 Lit Mordecai
  2. Esther 4:5 Lit he

Jesus Stills the Sea

22 (A)Now on one of those days [a]Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of (B)the lake.” So they launched out. 23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on (C)the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. 24 They came up to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “(D)Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and (E)rebuked the wind and the surging [b]waves, and they stopped, and [c]it became calm. 25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” But they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Luke 8:22 Lit He
  2. Luke 8:24 Lit waves of water
  3. Luke 8:24 Lit a calm occurred

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