Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Lilies. Of David.

Repentance and Forgiveness

30 ^(A)“And ^(B)when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and ^(C)you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, ² and ^(D)return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ then the Lord your God ^(E)will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will ^(F)gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. ^4 (G)If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. ⁵ And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. ^(H)And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. ⁶ And ^(I)the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, ^(J)so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. ⁷ And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. ⁸ And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. ^9 (K)The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. ^(L)For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, ¹⁰ when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life and Death

¹¹ “For this commandment that I command you today ^(M)is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. ^12 (N)It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

¹⁵ “See, ^(O)I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God^[a] that I command you today, ^(P)by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,^[b] then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if ^(Q)your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, ^18 (R)I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, ^(S)blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ²⁰ loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice ^(T)and holding fast to him, for ^(U)he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in ^(V)the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

^16 (A)So he ^(B)delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^(C)he went out, ^(D)bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ^18 (E)There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate ^(F)also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for ^(G)the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, ^(H)“What I have written I have written.”

^23 (I)When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.^[a] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, ²⁴ so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” ^(J)This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

So the soldiers did these things, ^25 (L)but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and ^(M)the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ^(N)“Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to ^(O)his own home.

The Death of Jesus

²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now ^(P)finished, said (^(Q)to fulfill the Scripture), ^(R)“I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, ^(S)so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ^(T)“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and ^(U)gave up his spirit.

Jesus' Side Is Pierced

³¹ Since it was ^(V)the day of Preparation, and ^(W)so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ^(X)a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other ^(Y)who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out ^(Z)blood and water. ^35 (AA)He who saw it has borne witness—^(AB)his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—^(AC)that you also may believe. ^36 (AD)For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ^(AE)“Not one of his bones ^(AF)will be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(AG)“They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

^38 (AH)After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly ^(AI)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ^39 (AJ)Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus^[b] by night, came ^(AK)bringing a mixture of ^(AL)myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds^[c] in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(AM)bound it in ^(AN)linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a ^(AO)garden, and ^(AP)in the garden a new tomb ^(AQ)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So because of the Jewish ^(AR)day of Preparation, ^(AS)since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.