Prayer for Mercy and Help

64 [a]Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and (A)come down,
That the mountains would (B)quake at Your presence—
[b]As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the (C)nations may tremble at Your presence!
When You did (D)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
For from days of old (E)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who (F)waits for Him.
You (G)meet him who rejoices in (H)doing righteousness,
Who (I)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, (J)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in [c]our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
For all of us have become like one who is (K)unclean,
And all our (L)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us (M)wither like a leaf,
And our (N)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
There is (O)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have (P)hidden Your face from us
And have [d]surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.

But now, Lord, (Q)You are our Father;
We are the (R)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the (S)work of Your hand.
Do not be (T)angry beyond measure, Lord,
(U)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are (V)Your people.
10 Your (W)holy cities have become a (X)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful (Y)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And (Z)all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You (AA)restrain Yourself at these things, Lord?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 64:1 Ch 63:19b in Heb
  2. Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Heb
  3. Isaiah 64:5 Lit them
  4. Isaiah 64:7 As in DSS and ancient versions; MT melted

The Prophet Acknowledges Injustice

Woe to me! For I am
Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of (A)grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat,
Nor an (B)early fig, which [a]I crave.
The [b]godly person has (C)perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for (D)bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a (E)net.
As for evil, both hands do it (F)well.
The leader asks for a (G)bribe, also the judge,
And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul;
So they plot it together.
The best of them is like a (H)thorn bush,
The most upright like a (I)thorn hedge.
The day [c]when you post your watchmen,
Your (J)punishment is coming.
Then their (K)confusion will occur.
Do not (L)trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a close friend.
Guard [d]your lips
From her who lies [e]in your arms.
For (M)son disavows father,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
(N)A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.

God Is the Source of Salvation and Light

But as for me, I will (O)be on the watch for the Lord;
I will (P)wait for the God of my salvation.
My (Q)God will hear me.
(R)Do not rejoice over me, (S)enemy of mine.
Though I fall I will (T)rise;
Though I live in darkness, the Lord is a (U)light for me.

I will endure the rage of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He (V)pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the (W)light,
And I will look at His [f](X)righteousness.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 7:1 Lit my soul desires
  2. Micah 7:2 Or faithful
  3. Micah 7:4 Lit of your
  4. Micah 7:5 Lit the openings of your mouth
  5. Micah 7:5 Lit on your chest
  6. Micah 7:9 I.e., right dealing

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

(A)When He had completed all His [a]teaching in the hearing of the people, (B)He went to Capernaum.

Now a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, (C)he sent some [b]Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they strongly urged Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Now Jesus started on His way with them; but already, when He was not yet far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “[c]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof; for that reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You; but just [d]say the word, and my servant [e]shall be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, (D)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 7:1 Lit words
  2. Luke 7:3 Lit elders of the Jews
  3. Luke 7:6 Or Sir
  4. Luke 7:7 Lit say with a word
  5. Luke 7:7 A command in Greek

Jesus Is the Light of the World

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, (A)I am the Light of the world; (B)the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “(C)You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not [a]true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, (D)Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is [b]true, because I know (E)where I came from and where I am going; but (F)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (G)You judge [c]according to the flesh; (H)I am not judging anyone. 16 But even (I)if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in (J)your Law it has been written that the testimony of (K)two people is [d]true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and (L)the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; (M)if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” 20 These words He spoke [e]in (N)the treasury, as (O)He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because (P)His hour had not yet come.

21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and (Q)you will look for Me, and (R)will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So (S)the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, (T)Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, (U)You are from below, I am from above; (V)you are of this world, (W)I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you (X)will die in your sins; for unless you believe that [f](Y)I am, (Z)you will die in your sins.” 25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, [g]What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but (AA)He who sent Me is true; and (AB)the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” 27 They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you (AC)lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that [h](AD)I am, and (AE)I do nothing [i]on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; (AF)He [j]has not left Me alone, for (AG)I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As He said these things, (AH)many came to believe in Him.

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Footnotes

  1. John 8:13 Or valid
  2. John 8:14 Or valid
  3. John 8:15 I.e., by a carnal standard
  4. John 8:17 I.e., valid or admissible
  5. John 8:20 Or at
  6. John 8:24 Or I AM, you will die...; Jesus may be referring to Ex 3:14, I AM WHO I AM
  7. John 8:25 Or That which I have even been saying to you from the beginning
  8. John 8:28 Or I AM, and...; (see note v 24)
  9. John 8:28 Or of Myself
  10. John 8:29 Or did not leave

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