Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A petition to be saved from death.
A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath [a]Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Jehovah, the God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before thee.
2 Let my prayer enter into thy presence;
Incline thine ear unto my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.
4 I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit;
I am as a man that hath no help,
5 Cast [b]off among the dead,
Like the slain that lie in the grave,
Whom thou rememberest no more,
And they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,
And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah
8 Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;
Thou hast made me an abomination unto them:
I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction:
I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah;
I have spread forth my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?
Shall [c]they that are deceased arise and praise thee? Selah
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or thy faithfulness in [d]Destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?
And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried;
And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.
14 Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul?
Why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up:
While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath is gone over me;
Thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me like water all the day long;
They compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,
And mine acquaintance [e]into darkness.
21 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none defile himself for the dead among his people; 2 except for his kin, that is near unto him, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3 and for his sister a virgin, that is near unto him, that hath had no husband; for her may he defile himself. 4 He shall not defile himself, [a]being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God; for the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or [b]profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God. 8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee; for I Jehovah, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the harlot, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and [c]that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head go loose, nor rend his clothes; 11 neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; 12 neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the [d]crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am Jehovah. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or one divorced, or a [e]profane woman, a harlot, these shall he not take: but a virgin of his own people shall he take to wife. 15 And he shall not profane his seed among his people: for I am Jehovah who sanctifieth him.
16 But thanks be to God, who putteth the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. 17 For he accepted indeed our exhortation; but being himself very earnest, he went forth unto you of his own accord. 18 And we have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the [a]gospel is spread through all the churches; 19 and not only so, but who was also appointed by the churches to travel with us in the matter of this grace, which is ministered by us to the glory of the Lord, and to show our readiness: 20 avoiding this, that any man should blame us in the matter of this bounty which is ministered by us: 21 for we take thought for things honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he hath in you. 23 Whether any inquire about Titus, he is my partner and my fellow-worker to you-ward; or our brethren, they are the [b]messengers of the churches, they are the glory of Christ. 24 [c]Show ye therefore unto them in the face of the churches the proof of your love, and of our glorying on your behalf.
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