Lamentations 3
1 “I am the man who sees poverty
By the rod of His anger upon me.
2 He took me and led me away
Into darkness, and not into light.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Throughout the day.
4 “He has aged my flesh and my skin
And has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me
And surrounded my head;
He has worn me down with hardships.
6 He set me in dark places
As those long dead.
7 “He hedged me in,
And I cannot come forth;
He made my brazen chain heavy.
8 Though I will call and cry out,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways
And obstructed my paths;
He has troubled me.
10 “He is a bear lying in wait for me
Like a lion in a hidden place.
11 After I departed, He eagerly pursued and caught me;
He has utterly ruined me.
12 He bent his bow
And set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 “He caused the arrows of His quiver
To pierce my loins.
14 I became a laughingstock to all my people,
And their song all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness
And drenched me with gall.
16 “He also broke my teeth with gravel
And fed me with ashes.
17 He took away peace from my soul,
And I have forgotten the good things.
18 Therefore I said, ‘My victory and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.’
19 “I remembered by reason of my poverty,
And because of my persecution, I remembered my bitterness and gall.
20 My soul shall remember
And meditate within me.
21 I will fix this in my heart;
Therefore, I will endure.
22 “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who will seek Him, the Good One.
23 He will wait for and quietly expect
The salvation of the Lord.
24 It is good for a man when he takes up
A yoke in his youth.
25 “He will sit alone and be silent,
Because he bears it on himself.
26 He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And he will be filled with insults.
27 Yet the Lord shall not reject him forever.
28 “For He who humbles will have compassion
According to the abundance of His mercy.
29 For He does not afflict willingly,
Though He humbles the children of men.
30 “To humble all the prisoners of the earth
Under His feet,
31 “To turn aside the judgment of a man
Before the face of the Most High,
32 And to condemn a man
Before he is judged,
The Lord does not command.
33 Who thus speaks,
And it comes to pass?
The Lord has not commanded it,
34 “For evil and good shall not proceed
From the mouth of the Most High.
35 Why should a living man complain,
A man concerning his sin?
36 Our way has been searched out and examined;
Therefore we shall turn to the Lord.
37 “Let us lift our hearts and our hands
To the Most High in heaven.
38 We have sinned and acted in an ungodly way;
Thus You have not shown us mercy.
39 But You visited us in anger
And drove us away.
You have put us to death
And not spared us.
40 “You veiled Yourself with a cloud
Because of our prayer.
41 To close my eyes and to reject me,
You have placed us in the midst of the peoples.
42 All our enemies have opened
Their mouth against us.
43 “Fear and anger have come upon us,
Yes, devastation and destruction.
44 My eyes will shed tears for forgiveness
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
45 My eyes are drowned with tears,
And I will not keep silent;
So there shall be no rest,
46 “Until the Lord bends down
And sees from heaven.
47 My eyes will bring suffering in my soul
Because of all the daughters of the city.
48 My enemies hunted me down
Without cause, like a sparrow.
49 “They put my life to death in the pit
And threw a stone at me.
50 Water flowed over my head;
I said, ‘I am rejected.’
51 I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest pit.
52 “You heard my voice;
Do not hide Your ears from my supplication.
53 You drew near at my call on the day I called upon You.
You said to me, ‘Do not fear.’
54 O Lord, You pleaded the case for my soul;
You redeemed my life.
55 “O Lord, You saw my troubles;
You judged my cause.
56 You saw all their vengeance
In all their reasoning against me.
57 You heard their taunts
And all their plots against me,
58 “And the lips of those who rose up against me,
And their meditations against me all the day.
59 Look at their eyes
As they sit down and rise up.
60 You shall render a recompense to them, O Lord,
According to the works of their hands.
61 “You shall repay them as a covering
Your hardship for them.
62 You shall pursue them in Your wrath and utterly destroy them
From under heaven, O Lord.
Psalm 118:161–176
161 Rulers persecuted me without cause,
But my heart feared because of Your words.
162 I shall greatly rejoice in Your teachings,
Like one finding great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor unrighteousness,
But I love Your law.
164 I praise You seven times a day
For the judgments of Your righteousness.
165 Great peace have all who love Your law,
And it is not an offense to them.
166 I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And I love Your commandments.
167 My soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I love them exceedingly.
168 I keep Your commandments and Your testimonies,
For all my ways are before You, O Lord.
169 Let my supplication draw near before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your teaching.
170 May my petition come before You;
Deliver me according to Your teaching.
171 My lips shall overflow in song
When You teach me Your ordinances.
172 My tongue shall speak of Your teaching,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your hand be for saving me,
For I chose Your commandments.
174 I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my meditation.
175 My soul shall live and praise You,
And Your judgments shall help me.
176 I went astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
Proverbs 27:6–10
6 The wounds of a friend are more trustworthy
Than the voluntary kisses of an enemy.
7 A satiated soul mocks honeycombs,
But to a hungry soul, even bitter things appear sweet.
8 As when a bird flies down from its own nest,
So is a man enslaved whenever he becomes a fugitive from his own place.
9 The heart delights in perfumes, wines, and incenses,
But the soul is broken by mishaps.
10 Do not abandon your friend or the friend of your father,
And when you have misfortune, do not go to your brother’s house;
A friend nearby is better than a brother far away.
1 John 1:1-2:1
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
Fellowship with Him and One Another
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.