Psalm 26

Of David.

Vindicate me,(A) Lord,
    for I have led a blameless life;(B)
I have trusted(C) in the Lord
    and have not faltered.(D)
Test me,(E) Lord, and try me,
    examine my heart and my mind;(F)
for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love(G)
    and have lived(H) in reliance on your faithfulness.(I)

I do not sit(J) with the deceitful,
    nor do I associate with hypocrites.(K)
I abhor(L) the assembly of evildoers
    and refuse to sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence,(M)
    and go about your altar, Lord,
proclaiming aloud your praise(N)
    and telling of all your wonderful deeds.(O)

Lord, I love(P) the house where you live,
    the place where your glory dwells.(Q)
Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
    my life with those who are bloodthirsty,(R)
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,(S)
    whose right hands are full of bribes.(T)
11 I lead a blameless life;
    deliver me(U) and be merciful to me.

12 My feet stand on level ground;(V)
    in the great congregation(W) I will praise the Lord.

26 Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord:

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:

10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite,(A) Bildad the Shuhite(B) and Zophar the Naamathite,(C) heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.(D) 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him;(E) they began to weep aloud,(F) and they tore their robes(G) and sprinkled dust on their heads.(H) 13 Then they sat on the ground(I) with him for seven days and seven nights.(J) No one said a word to him,(K) because they saw how great his suffering was.

Job Speaks

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(L) He said:

“May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’(M)
That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
May gloom and utter darkness(N) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
That night—may thick darkness(O) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy(P) be heard in it.
May those who curse days[a] curse that day,(Q)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(R)
May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,(S)
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?(T)
12 Why were there knees to receive me(U)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down(V) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest(W)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,(X)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,(Y)
15 with princes(Z) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.(AA)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,(AB)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?(AC)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,(AD)
    and there the weary are at rest.(AE)
18 Captives(AF) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s(AG) shout.(AH)
19 The small and the great are there,(AI)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,(AJ)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,(AK)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,(AL)
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?(AM)
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,(AN)
    whom God has hedged in?(AO)
24 For sighing(AP) has become my daily food;(AQ)
    my groans(AR) pour out like water.(AS)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded(AT) has happened to me.(AU)
26 I have no peace,(AV) no quietness;
    I have no rest,(AW) but only turmoil.”(AX)

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 Or curse the sea

11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

And Job spake, and said,

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Children of God

23 Before the coming of this faith,[a] we were held in custody(A) under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.(B) 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came(C) that we might be justified by faith.(D) 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.(E)

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God(F) through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ(G) have clothed yourselves with Christ.(H) 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free,(I) nor is there male and female,(J) for you are all one in Christ Jesus.(K) 29 If you belong to Christ,(L) then you are Abraham’s seed,(M) and heirs(N) according to the promise.(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 3:23 Or through the faithfulness of Jesus … 23 Before faith came

23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

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