I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of (A)the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to (B)Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil[a] of (C)Heman the Ezrahite.

88 O Lord, (D)God of my salvation,
    I (E)cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
    (F)incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,
    and (G)my life draws near to (H)Sheol.
I am counted among those who (I)go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom (J)you remember no more,
    for they are (K)cut off from your hand.
You have put me in (L)the depths of the pit,
    in the (M)regions dark and (N)deep.
Your wrath (O)lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with (P)all your waves. Selah

You have caused (Q)my companions to shun me;
    you have made me (R)a horror[b] to them.
I am (S)shut in so that I cannot escape;
    (T)my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I (U)spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
    (V)Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your (W)wonders known in (X)the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of (Y)forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry (Z)to you;
    (AA)in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why (AB)do you cast my soul away?
    Why (AC)do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.[c]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your (AD)dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They (AE)surround me like a flood (AF)all day long;
    they (AG)close in on me together.
18 You have caused (AH)my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.[d]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 88:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
  2. Psalm 88:8 Or an abomination
  3. Psalm 88:15 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  4. Psalm 88:18 Or darkness has become my only companion

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: (A)“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: (B)Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, (C)from the iron furnace, saying, (D)Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. (E)So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, (F)that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, (G)to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

And the Lord said to me, (H)“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: (I)Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, (J)warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, (K)Obey my voice. (L)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, (M)but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all (N)the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

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14 “Therefore (A)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, (B)for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 (C)What right has my beloved in my house, (D)when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? (E)Can you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you (F)‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But (G)with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and (H)its branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, (I)who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, (J)provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

18 The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
    then you showed me their deeds.
19 But I was (K)like a gentle lamb
    led to the slaughter.
I did not know (L)it was against me
    they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
    (M)let us cut him off from (N)the land of the living,
    that his name be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
    who (O)tests (P)the heart and the mind,
(Q)let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.

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Dead to Sin, Alive to God

What shall we say then? (A)Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can (B)we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us (C)who have been baptized (D)into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were (E)buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as (F)Christ was raised from the dead by (G)the glory of the Father, we too might walk in (H)newness of life.

For (I)if we have been united with him in (J)a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that (K)our old self[a] (L)was crucified with him in order that (M)the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For (N)one who has died (O)has been set free[b] from sin. Now (P)if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that (Q)Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; (R)death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, (S)once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves (T)dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 6:6 Greek man
  2. Romans 6:7 Greek has been justified

33 They answered him, (A)“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, (B)everyone who practices sin is a slave[a] to sin. 35 (C)The slave does not remain in the house forever; (D)the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet (E)you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 (F)I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard (G)from your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

39 They answered him, (H)“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, (I)“If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now (J)you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth (K)that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, (L)“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have (M)one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, (N)“If God were your Father, you would love me, for (O)I came from God and (P)I am here. (Q)I came not of my own accord, but (R)he sent me. 43 (S)Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot (T)bear to hear my word. 44 (U)You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. (V)He was a murderer from the beginning, and (W)does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. (X)When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 (Y)Whoever is of God hears the words of God. (Z)The reason why you do not hear them is that (AA)you are not of God.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 8:34 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 35

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