They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

A Song of (A)Ascents.

129 “Greatly[a] have they (B)afflicted me (C)from my youth”—
    (D)let Israel now say—
“Greatly have they (E)afflicted me (F)from my youth,
    (G)yet they have not prevailed against me.
(H)The plowers plowed (I)upon my back;
    they made long their furrows.”
The Lord is righteous;
    he has cut (J)the cords of the wicked.
May all who hate Zion
    be (K)put to shame and turned backward!
Let them be like (L)the grass on the housetops,
    which (M)withers before it grows up,
with which the reaper does not fill his hand
    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
nor do those who pass by say,
    (N)“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
    We (O)bless you in the name of the Lord!”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 129:1 Or Often; also verse 2

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of (A)Ascents.

130 Out of (B)the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
    O Lord, hear my voice!
(C)Let your ears be attentive
    to (D)the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should (E)mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could (F)stand?
But with you there is (G)forgiveness,
    (H)that you may be feared.

I (I)wait for the Lord, (J)my soul waits,
    and (K)in his word I hope;
my soul (L)waits for the Lord
    more than (M)watchmen for (N)the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, (O)hope in the Lord!
    For (P)with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will (Q)redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of (A)Ascents. Of David.

131 O Lord, my heart is not (B)lifted up;
    my eyes are not (C)raised too high;
I do not (D)occupy myself with things
    too great and (E)too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned (F)child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

(G)O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Job Replies: Where Is God?

23 Then Job answered and said:

“Today also my (A)complaint is bitter;[a]
    my (B)hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
Oh, (C)that I knew where I might find him,
    that I might come even to his (D)seat!
I would (E)lay my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know what he would answer me
    and understand what he would say to me.
Would he (F)contend with me in the greatness of his power?
    No; he would pay attention to me.
There an upright man could argue with him,
    and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

“Behold, (G)I go forward, but he is not there,
    and backward, but I do not perceive him;
on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
    he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But he (H)knows (I)the way that I (J)take;
    when he has (K)tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot (L)has held fast to his steps;
    I have kept his way and have (M)not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
    I have (N)treasured the words of his mouth more than my (O)portion of food.
13 But he is unchangeable,[b] and (P)who can turn him back?
    What he (Q)desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he (R)appoints for me,
    and many such things are (S)in his mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
    when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my (T)heart faint;
    the Almighty has terrified me;
17 yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
    nor because thick darkness covers my face.

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:2 Or defiant
  2. Job 23:13 Or one

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18 For you have not come to (A)what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and (B)the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words (C)made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, (D)“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, (E)so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to (F)Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, (G)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to (H)innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to (I)the assembly[a] of the firstborn who are (J)enrolled in heaven, and to (K)God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, (L)the mediator of a new covenant, and to (M)the sprinkled blood (N)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For (O)if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time (P)his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, (Q)“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates (R)the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving (S)a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus (T)let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our (U)God is a consuming fire.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 12:23 Or church

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