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Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction
3 I am the man who has (A)seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In (B)darkness and not in light.
3 Surely against me He has (C)turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4 He has caused my (D)flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has (E)broken my bones.
5 He has (F)besieged and encompassed me with (G)bitterness and hardship.
6 In (H)dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7 He has (I)walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my [a](J)chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He (K)shuts out my prayer.
9 He has (L)blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has turned aside my ways and (M)torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He (N)bent His bow
And (O)set me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the [b]arrows of His (P)quiver
To enter into my [c]inward parts.
14 I have become a (Q)laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking (R)song all the day.
15 He has (S)filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16 He has (T)broken my teeth with (U)gravel;
He has made me cower in the (V)dust.
17 My soul has been rejected (W)from peace;
I have forgotten [d]happiness.
18 So I say, “My strength has perished,
And so has my (X)hope from the Lord.”
Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy
19 Remember my affliction and my [e]wandering, the (Y)wormwood and bitterness.
20 Surely (Z)my soul remembers
And is (AA)bowed down within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have (AB)hope.
22 The Lord’s (AC)lovingkindnesses [f]indeed never cease,
(AD)For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new (AE)every morning;
Great is (AF)Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my (AG)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (AH)have hope in Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who (AI)wait for Him,
To the [g]person who (AJ)seeks Him.
26 It is good that he (AK)waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him (AL)sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29 Let him [h]put his mouth in the (AM)dust,
Perhaps there is (AN)hope.
30 Let him give his (AO)cheek to [i]the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
31 For the Lord will (AP)not reject forever,
32 For if He causes grief,
Then He will have (AQ)compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33 For He (AR)does not afflict [j]willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34 To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the [k]land,
35 To [l]deprive a man of (AS)justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36 To [m](AT)defraud a man in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not [n]approve.
37 Who is [o]there who speaks and it (AU)comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That [p](AV)both good and ill go forth?
39 Why should any living [q]mortal, or any man,
Offer (AW)complaint [r]in view of his sins?
40 Let us (AX)examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
41 We (AY)lift up our heart [s]and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42 We have (AZ)transgressed and rebelled,
You have (BA)not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with (BB)anger
And (BC)pursued us;
You have slain and (BD)have not spared.
44 You have (BE)covered Yourself with a cloud
So that (BF)no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us mere (BG)offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have (BH)opened their mouths against us.
47 (BI)Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48 My [t](BJ)eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes pour down (BK)unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50 Until the Lord (BL)looks down
And sees from heaven.
51 My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies (BM)without cause
Hunted me down (BN)like a bird;
53 They have silenced [u]me (BO)in the pit
And have [v](BP)placed a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed (BQ)over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
55 I (BR)called on Your name, O Lord,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (BS)heard my voice,
“(BT)Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.”
57 You (BU)drew near when I called on You;
You said, “(BV)Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You (BW)have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have (BX)redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have (BY)seen my oppression;
(BZ)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (CA)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (CB)reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (CC)lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63 Look on their (CD)sitting and their rising;
(CE)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (CF)recompense them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them [w](CG)hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (CH)pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the (CI)heavens of the Lord!
God’s Final Word in His Son
1 God, after He (A)spoke long ago to the fathers in (B)the prophets in many portions and (C)in many ways, 2 [a](D)in these last days (E)has spoken to us [b]in (F)His Son, whom He appointed (G)heir of all things, (H)through whom also He made the [c](I)world. 3 [d]And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact (J)representation of His nature, and [e](K)upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made (L)purification of sins, He (M)sat down at the right hand of the (N)Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent (O)name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say,
“(P)You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”?
And again,
“(Q)I will be a Father to Him
And He shall be a Son to Me”?
6 And [f]when He again (R)brings the firstborn into [g](S)the world, He says,
“(T)And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He says,
“(U)Who makes His angels winds,
And His ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son He says,
“(V)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the righteous scepter is the scepter of [h]His kingdom.
9 “(W)You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
(X)Therefore God, Your God, has (Y)anointed You
With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
10 And,
“(Z)You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the works of Your hands;
11 (AA)They will perish, but You remain;
(AB)And they all will become old like a garment,
12 (AC)And like a mantle You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will also be changed.
But You are (AD)the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.”
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said,
14 Are they not all (AG)ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will (AH)inherit (AI)salvation?
Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.
A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and [a]pours out his complaint before the Lord.
102 (A)Hear my prayer, O Lord!
And let my cry for help (B)come to You.
2 (C)Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;
(D)Incline Your ear to me;
In the day when I call (E)answer me quickly.
3 For my days (F)have been [b]consumed in smoke,
And my (G)bones have been scorched like a hearth.
4 My heart (H)has been smitten like [c]grass and has (I)withered away,
Indeed, I (J)forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the [d]loudness of my groaning
My (K)bones [e]cling to my flesh.
6 I [f]resemble a (L)pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the waste places.
7 I (M)lie awake,
I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 My enemies (N)have reproached me all day long;
Those who [g](O)deride me [h]have used my name as a (P)curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread
And (Q)mingled my drink with weeping
10 (R)Because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
For You have (S)lifted me up and cast me away.
11 My days are like a [i](T)lengthened shadow,
And [j]I (U)wither away like [k]grass.
12 But You, O Lord, [l](V)abide forever,
And Your [m](W)name to all generations.
13 You will (X)arise and have (Y)compassion on Zion;
For (Z)it is time to be gracious to her,
For the (AA)appointed time has come.
14 Surely Your servants [n]find pleasure in her stones
And feel pity for her dust.
15 [o]So the [p](AB)nations will fear the name of the Lord
And (AC)all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord has (AD)built up Zion;
He has (AE)appeared in His glory.
17 He has (AF)regarded the prayer of the [q]destitute
And has not despised their prayer.
18 [r]This will be (AG)written for the (AH)generation to come,
[s]That (AI)a people yet to be created [t]may praise [u]the Lord.
19 For He (AJ)looked down from His holy height;
(AK)From heaven the Lord gazed [v]upon the earth,
20 To hear the (AL)groaning of the prisoner,
To (AM)set free [w]those who were doomed to death,
21 That men may (AN)tell of the name of the Lord in Zion
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When (AO)the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23 He has weakened my strength in the way;
He has (AP)shortened my days.
24 I say, “O my God, (AQ)do not take me away in the [x]midst of my days,
Your (AR)years are throughout all generations.
25 “Of old You (AS)founded the earth,
And the (AT)heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 “[y]Even they will (AU)perish, but You endure;
And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.
27 “But You are [z](AV)the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.
28 “The (AW)children of Your servants will continue,
And their [aa](AX)descendants will be established before You.”
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