Readings for Lent and Easter

⁴ More numerous than the hairs on my head
    are those who hate me for no reason.
My treacherous enemies,
    those who would destroy me, are countless.
    Must I now give back
    what I didn’t steal in the first place?
⁵ God, you know my foolishness;
    my wrongdoings aren’t hidden from you.

⁶ Lord God of heavenly forces!—
    don’t let those who hope in you
        be put to shame because of me.
God of Israel!—
    don’t let those who seek you
    be disgraced because of me.
⁷ I am insulted because of you.
    Shame covers my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my own brothers,
    an immigrant to my mother’s children.
⁹ Because passion for your house has consumed me,
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me!
¹⁰ I wept while I fasted—
    even for that I was insulted.
¹¹ When I wore funeral clothes,
    people made fun of me.
¹² Those who sit at the city gate muttered things about me;
    drunkards made up rude songs.