Psalm 42

English Standard Version

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

42 ^(B)As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
²^(C)My soul thirsts for God,
    for ^(D)the living God.
When shall I come and ^(E)appear before God?^[b]
³^(F)My tears have been my food
    day and night,
^(G)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴These things I remember,
    as I ^(H)pour out my soul:
^(I)how I would go ^(J)with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    ^(K)a multitude keeping festival.

⁵^(L)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you ^(M)in turmoil within me?
^(N)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation^[c] ⁶and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I ^(O)remember you
^(P)from the land of Jordan and of ^(Q)Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
^(R)all your breakers and your ^(S)waves
    have gone over me.
⁸By day the Lord ^(T)commands his steadfast love,
    and at ^(U)night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹I say to God, ^(V)my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
^(W)Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
^(X)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹^(Y)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Footnotes

Psalm 42:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 42:2 Revocalization yields and see the face of God
Psalm 42:5 Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5

Joel 2:1-13

English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord

2 ^(A)Blow a trumpet in ^(B)Zion;
    sound an alarm on ^(C)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for ^(D)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
²^(E)a day of darkness and gloom,
    ^(F)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    ^(G)a great and powerful people;
^(H)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

³^(I)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(J)the garden of Eden before them,
    but ^(K)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

⁴^(L)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
⁵^(M)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(N)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(O)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(P)all faces grow pale.
⁷Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸They do not jostle one another;
    ^(Q)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
⁹^(R)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(S)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(T)they enter through the windows ^(U)like a thief.

¹⁰^(V)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(W)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
¹¹^(X)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(Y)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(Z)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(AA)For the day of the Lord is ^(AB)great and very awesome;
    ^(AC)who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    ^(AD)“return to me with all your heart,
^(AE)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and ^(AF)rend your hearts and not ^(AG)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    ^(AH)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    ^(AI)and he relents over disaster.