Readings for Lent and Easter

¹² I am surrounded by fearsome enemies, strong as the giant bulls from Bashan. ¹³ They come at me with open jaws, like roaring lions attacking their prey. ¹⁴ My strength has drained away like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart melts like wax; ¹⁵ my strength has dried up like sun-baked clay; my tongue sticks to my mouth, for you have laid me in the dust of death. ¹⁶ The enemy, this gang of evil men, circles me like a pack of dogs; they have pierced my hands and feet. ¹⁷ I can count every bone in my body. See these men of evil gloat and stare; ¹⁸ they divide my clothes among themselves by a toss of the dice.