Psalm 31:9-16

New International Version

⁹Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;^(A)
    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,^(B)
    my soul and body^(C) with grief.
¹⁰My life is consumed by anguish^(D)
    and my years by groaning;^(E)
my strength fails^(F) because of my affliction,^[a]^(G)
    and my bones grow weak.^(H)
¹¹Because of all my enemies,^(I)
    I am the utter contempt^(J) of my neighbors^(K)
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
    those who see me on the street flee from me.
¹²I am forgotten as though I were dead;^(L)
    I have become like broken pottery.
¹³For I hear many whispering,^(M)
    “Terror on every side!”^(N)
They conspire against me^(O)
    and plot to take my life.^(P)

¹⁴But I trust^(Q) in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵My times^(R) are in your hands;
    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
    from those who pursue me.
¹⁶Let your face shine^(S) on your servant;
    save me in your unfailing love.^(T)

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Footnotes

Psalm 31:10 Or guilt

Jeremiah 18:1-11

New International Version

At the Potter’s House

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay^(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,^(B) Israel. ⁷If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,^(C) torn down and destroyed, ⁸and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent^(D) and not inflict on it the disaster^(E) I had planned. ⁹And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built^(F) up and planted, ¹⁰and if it does evil^(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider^(H) the good I had intended to do for it.^(I)

¹¹“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster^(J) for you and devising a plan^(K) against you. So turn^(L) from your evil ways,^(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’^(N)

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Jeremiah 18:18-20

New International Version

¹⁸They said, “Come, let’s make plans^(A) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest^(B) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,^(C) nor the word from the prophets.^(D) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues^(E) and pay no attention to anything he says.”

¹⁹Listen to me, Lord;
    hear what my accusers^(F) are saying!
²⁰Should good be repaid with evil?^(G)
    Yet they have dug a pit^(H) for me.
Remember that I stood^(I) before you
    and spoke in their behalf^(J)
    to turn your wrath away from them.

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Matthew 20:17-28

New International Version

Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time^(A)

¹⁷Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, ¹⁸“We are going up to Jerusalem,^(B) and the Son of Man^(C) will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.^(D) They will condemn him to death ¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged^(E) and crucified.^(F) On the third day^(G) he will be raised to life!”^(H)

A Mother’s Request^(I)

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons^(J) came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,^(K) asked a favor of him.

²¹“What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”^(L)

²²“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup^(M) I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup,^(N) but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignant^(O) with the two brothers. ²⁵Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^(P) ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸just as the Son of Man^(Q) did not come to be served, but to serve,^(R) and to give his life as a ransom^(S) for many.”