Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
כ (Kaf)
81 I desperately long for[a] your deliverance.
I find hope in your word.
82 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your promise to be fulfilled.[b]
I say,[c] “When will you comfort me?”
83 For[d] I am like a wineskin[e] dried up in smoke.[f]
I do not forget your statutes.
84 How long must your servant endure this?[g]
When will you judge those who pursue me?
85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me,[h]
which violates your law.[i]
86 All your commands are reliable.
I am pursued without reason.[j] Help me!
87 They have almost destroyed me here on the earth,
but I do not reject your precepts.
88 Revive me with[k] your loyal love,
that I might keep[l] the rules you have revealed.[m]
8 As for you, son of man, listen to what I am saying to you: Do not rebel like that rebellious house! Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”
9 Then I looked and realized a hand was stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll. 10 He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front[a] and back;[b] written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you[c]—eat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.
3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it,[d] and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.
4 He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech[e] and difficult language,[f] but[g] to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand.[h] Surely if[i] I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you,[j] because they are not willing to listen to me,[k] for the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted.[l]
8 “I have made your face adamant[m] to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads. 9 I have made your forehead harder than flint—like diamond![n] Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you,[o] for they are a rebellious house.”
10 And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully. 11 Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen,[p] and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”
Paul’s Sufferings for Christ
16 I say again, let no one think that I am a fool.[a] But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence[b] I do not say the way the Lord would.[c] Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. 18 Since many[d] are boasting according to human standards,[e] I too will boast. 19 For since you are so wise, you put up with[f] fools gladly. 20 For you put up with[g] it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly[h] toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 21 (To my disgrace[i] I must say that we were too weak for that!)[j] But whatever anyone else dares to boast about[k] (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing.[l] 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. 24 Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one.[m] 25 Three times I was beaten with a rod.[n] Once I received a stoning.[o] Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. 26 I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers,[p] in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness,[q] in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, 27 in hard work and toil,[r] through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing.[s] 28 Apart from other things,[t] there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern[u] for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin,[v] and I do not burn with indignation? 30 If I must boast,[w] I will boast about the things that show my weakness.[x] 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. 32 In Damascus, the governor[y] under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus[z] in order to arrest[aa] me, 33 but I was let down in a rope-basket[ab] through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.