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Psalm 44

National Lament and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.

We have heard with our ears, O God;
    our ancestors have told us
what deeds you performed in their days,
    in the days of old:(A)
you with your own hand drove out the nations,
    but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
    but them you set free;(B)
for not by their own sword did they win the land,
    nor did their own arm give them victory,
but your right hand, and your arm,
    and the light of your countenance,
    for you delighted in them.(C)

You are my King and my God;
    you command[a] victories for Jacob.
Through you we push down our foes;
    through your name we tread down our assailants.(D)
For not in my bow do I trust,
    nor can my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our foes
    and have put to confusion those who hate us.(E)
In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah(F)

Yet you have rejected us and shamed us
    and have not gone out with our armies.(G)
10 You made us turn back from the foe,
    and our enemies have gotten spoil.(H)
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
    and have scattered us among the nations.(I)
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
    demanding no high price for them.(J)

13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
    the derision and scorn of those around us.(K)
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
    a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.(L)
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
    and shame has covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,
    at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.(M)

17 All this has come upon us,
    yet we have not forgotten you
    or been false to your covenant.(N)
18 Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our steps departed from your way,(O)
19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals
    and covered us with deep darkness.(P)

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or spread out our hands to a strange god,(Q)
21 would not God discover this?
    For he knows the secrets of the heart.(R)
22 Because of you we are being killed all day long
    and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.(S)

23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
    Awake, do not cast us off forever!(T)
24 Why do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?(U)
25 For we sink down to the dust;
    our bodies cling to the ground.(V)
26 Rise up, come to our help.
    Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 44.4 Gk Syr: Heb You are my King, O God; command
  2. 44.14 Heb a shaking of the head

Psalm 44[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.[b]

We have heard it with our ears,(A) O God;
    our ancestors have told us(B)
what you did in their days,
    in days long ago.(C)
With your hand you drove out(D) the nations
    and planted(E) our ancestors;
you crushed(F) the peoples
    and made our ancestors flourish.(G)
It was not by their sword(H) that they won the land,
    nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand,(I) your arm,(J)
    and the light(K) of your face, for you loved(L) them.

You are my King(M) and my God,(N)
    who decrees[c] victories(O) for Jacob.
Through you we push back(P) our enemies;
    through your name we trample(Q) our foes.
I put no trust in my bow,(R)
    my sword does not bring me victory;
but you give us victory(S) over our enemies,
    you put our adversaries to shame.(T)
In God we make our boast(U) all day long,(V)
    and we will praise your name forever.[d](W)

But now you have rejected(X) and humbled us;(Y)
    you no longer go out with our armies.(Z)
10 You made us retreat(AA) before the enemy,
    and our adversaries have plundered(AB) us.
11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep(AC)
    and have scattered us among the nations.(AD)
12 You sold your people for a pittance,(AE)
    gaining nothing from their sale.

13 You have made us a reproach(AF) to our neighbors,(AG)
    the scorn(AH) and derision(AI) of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword(AJ) among the nations;
    the peoples shake their heads(AK) at us.
15 I live in disgrace(AL) all day long,
    and my face is covered with shame(AM)
16 at the taunts(AN) of those who reproach and revile(AO) me,
    because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.(AP)

17 All this came upon us,
    though we had not forgotten(AQ) you;
    we had not been false to your covenant.
18 Our hearts had not turned(AR) back;
    our feet had not strayed from your path.
19 But you crushed(AS) us and made us a haunt for jackals;(AT)
    you covered us over with deep darkness.(AU)

20 If we had forgotten(AV) the name of our God
    or spread out our hands to a foreign god,(AW)
21 would not God have discovered it,
    since he knows the secrets of the heart?(AX)
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep(AY) to be slaughtered.(AZ)

23 Awake,(BA) Lord! Why do you sleep?(BB)
    Rouse yourself!(BC) Do not reject us forever.(BD)
24 Why do you hide your face(BE)
    and forget(BF) our misery and oppression?(BG)

25 We are brought down to the dust;(BH)
    our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Rise up(BI) and help us;
    rescue(BJ) us because of your unfailing love.(BK)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 44:1 In Hebrew texts 44:1-26 is numbered 44:2-27.
  2. Psalm 44:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  3. Psalm 44:4 Septuagint, Aquila and Syriac; Hebrew King, O God; / command
  4. Psalm 44:8 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

14 Therefore, I will now allure her
    and bring her into the wilderness
    and speak tenderly to her.(A)
15 From there I will give her her vineyards
    and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,
    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.(B)

16 On that day, says the Lord, you will call me “my husband,” and no longer will you call me “my Baal.”[a] 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.(C) 18 I will make for you[b] a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground, and I will abolish[c] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you[d] lie down in safety.(D) 19 And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.(E) 20 I will take you for my wife in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.(F)

21 On that day I will answer, says the Lord,
    I will answer the heavens,
    and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and they shall answer Jezreel,[e](G)
23     and I will sow him[f] for myself in the land.
And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah,[g]
    and I will say to Lo-ammi,[h] “You are my people,”
    and he shall say, “You are my God.”(H)

Further Assurances of God’s Redeeming Love

The Lord said to me again, “Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”(I) So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine.[i](J) And I said to her, “You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not prostitute yourself; you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.” For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim.(K) Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; they shall come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.(L)

Footnotes

  1. 2.16 That is, “my master”
  2. 2.18 Heb them
  3. 2.18 Heb break
  4. 2.18 Heb them
  5. 2.22 That is, God sows
  6. 2.23 Cn: Heb her
  7. 2.23 That is, not pitied
  8. 2.23 That is, not my people
  9. 3.2 Gk: Heb a homer of barley and a lethek of barley

14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness(A)
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor[a](B) a door of hope.
There she will respond[b](C) as in the days of her youth,(D)
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(E)

16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’;(F)
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.[c]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;(G)
    no longer will their names be invoked.(H)
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground.(I)
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish(J) from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety.(K)
19 I will betroth(L) you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in[d] righteousness and justice,(M)
    in[e] love and compassion.(N)
20 I will betroth you in[f] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge(O) the Lord.(P)

21 “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord
“I will respond(Q) to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil,(R)
    and they will respond to Jezreel.[g](S)
23 I will plant(T) her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[h](U)
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[i]’ ‘You are my people’;(V)
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.(W)’”

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.(X) Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.(Y)

So I bought her for fifteen shekels[j] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[k] of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince,(Z) without sacrifice(AA) or sacred stones,(AB) without ephod(AC) or household gods.(AD) Afterward the Israelites will return and seek(AE) the Lord their God and David their king.(AF) They will come trembling(AG) to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.(AH)

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
  2. Hosea 2:15 Or sing
  3. Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
  4. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  5. Hosea 2:19 Or with
  6. Hosea 2:20 Or with
  7. Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
  8. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
  9. Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)
  10. Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
  11. Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.

16 Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or[a] drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.(A) 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions,[b] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,[c] 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.(B)

Warnings against False Teachers

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental principles[d] of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,(C) 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.(D) 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.[e]

The New Life in Christ

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.(E)

Footnotes

  1. 2.16 Other ancient authorities read and
  2. 2.18 Meaning of Gk uncertain
  3. 2.18 Gk by the mind of his flesh
  4. 2.20 Or spirits
  5. 2.23 Or are of no value, serving only to indulge the flesh

Freedom From Human Rules

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you(A) by what you eat or drink,(B) or with regard to a religious festival,(C) a New Moon celebration(D) or a Sabbath day.(E) 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come;(F) the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility(G) and the worship of angels disqualify you.(H) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head,(I) from whom the whole body,(J) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.(K)

20 Since you died with Christ(L) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,(M) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:(N) 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish(O) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.(P) 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility(Q) and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,(R) set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.(S)