Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book II
Thirsting for God in trouble and exile.
For the Chief Musician. Maschil of the sons of Korah.
42 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they [a]continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4 These things I remember, and pour out my soul [b]within me,
How I went with the throng, and [c]led them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.
5 Why art thou [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him
For the help of his countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me:
Therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan,
And the Hermons, from [e]the hill Mizar.
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls:
All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
8 Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time;
And in the night his song shall be with me,
Even a prayer unto the God of my life.
9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning [f]because of the oppression of the enemy?
10 As with [g]a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me,
While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him,
Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Prayer for deliverance.
43 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation:
Oh deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou cast me off?
Why go I mourning [a]because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me:
Let them bring me unto thy holy hill,
And to thy tabernacles.
4 Then will I go unto the altar of God,
Unto God [b]my exceeding joy;
And upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him,
Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
14 To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend;
[a]Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
As the channel of brooks that pass away;
16 Which are black by reason of the ice,
And wherein the snow hideth itself:
17 What time they [b]wax warm, they vanish;
When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 [c]The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside;
They go up into the waste, and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema looked,
The companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were put to shame because they had hoped;
They came thither, and were confounded.
21 For now ye [d]are nothing;
Ye see a terror, and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Give unto me?
Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace;
And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are words of uprightness!
But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
26 Do ye think to reprove words,
Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are [e]as wind?
27 Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,
And make merchandise of your friend.
28 Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;
[f]For surely I shall not lie to your face.
29 Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, [g]my cause is righteous.
30 Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, [a]And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise: but God hath granted it to Abraham by promise. 19 What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made; and it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one; but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could make alive, verily righteousness would have been of the law. 22 But the scripture shut up all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
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