Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Lilies. Of David.

⁶ Then ^(A)Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. ^7 (B)But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Pharaoh Oppresses Israel

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^(C)who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Behold, ^(D)the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. ^10 (E)Come, ^(F)let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them ^(G)to afflict them with heavy ^(H)burdens. They built for Pharaoh ^(I)store cities, Pithom and ^(J)Raamses. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. ¹³ So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel ^(K)work as slaves ¹⁴ and ^(L)made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

¹⁵ Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶ “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives ^(M)feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” ¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ^20 (N)So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, ^(O)he gave them families. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ^(P)“Every son that is born to the Hebrews^[a] you shall cast into ^(Q)the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

One Body with Many Members

¹² For just as ^(A)the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, ^(B)so it is with Christ. ¹³ For ^(C)in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—^(D)Jews or Greeks, slaves^[a] or free—and ^(E)all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, ^(F)God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, ^(G)as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[b] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, ^(H)all rejoice together.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^27 (A)And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they told him, ^(B)“John the Baptist; and others say, ^(C)Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ^(D)“You are ^(E)the Christ.” ^30 (F)And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

^31 (G)And he began to teach them that ^(H)the Son of Man must ^(I)suffer many things and ^(J)be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and ^(K)after three days rise again. ³² And he said this ^(L)plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ^(M)“Get behind me, Satan! For you ^(N)are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(O)deny himself and ^(P)take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For ^(Q)whoever would save his life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake ^(R)and the gospel's will save it. ^36 (S)For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For ^(T)what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(U)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this ^(V)adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed ^(W)when he comes in the glory of his Father with ^(X)the holy angels.”

9 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not ^(Y)taste death ^(Z)until they see the kingdom of God after it has come ^(AA)with power.”