Readings for Lent and Easter
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal,
must I now restore?(A)
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.(B)
6 Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.(C)
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.(D)
9 It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.(E)
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting,[a]
they insulted me for doing so.(F)
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.(G)
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.(H)
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