How Long, O Lord?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 vHow long, O Lord? Will you wforget me forever?
How long will you xhide your face from me?
2 How long must I take ycounsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;
alight up my eyes, lest bI sleep the sleep of death,
4 clest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am dshaken.
5 But I have etrusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall frejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 gThe hfool says in his heart, i“There is no God.”
They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;
kthere is none who does good.
2 The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,1
who mseek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers
who peat up my people as they eat bread
and qdo not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
You Keep Him in Perfect Peace
1 In that day ethis song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
he sets up fsalvation
as walls and bulwarks.
2 gOpen the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 hYou keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
5 iFor he has humbled
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of jthe poor,
the steps of jthe needy.”
7 The path of the righteous is level;
kyou make level the way of the righteous.
8 In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
are the desire of our soul.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
mFor when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 nIf favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, oyour hand is lifted up,
but pthey do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
Let qthe fire for your adversaries consume them.
12 O Lord, you will ordain rpeace for us,
for you have indeed done for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God,
sother lords besides you have ruled over us,
tbut your name alone we bring to remembrance.
Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners
12 I thank him xwho has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, yappointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, zpersecutor, and insolent opponent. But aI received mercy bbecause I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and cthe grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the dfaith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is etrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus fcame into the world to save sinners, gof whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To hthe King of the ages, iimmortal, jinvisible, kthe only God, lbe honor and glory forever and ever.1 Amen.
18 This charge mI entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with nthe prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may owage the good warfare, 19 pholding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have qmade shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are rHymenaeus and sAlexander, whom I thave handed over to Satan that they may learn not to ublaspheme.
Pray for All People
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 vfor kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and wdignified in every way. 3 This is good, and xit is pleasing in the sight of yGod our Savior, 4 who desires zall people to be saved and ato come to bthe knowledge of the truth. 5 For cthere is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man2 Christ Jesus, 6 dwho gave himself as a ransom for all, which is ethe testimony given fat the proper time. 7 gFor this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (hI am telling the truth, I am not lying), ia teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire then that jin every place the men should pray, klifting lholy hands without anger or quarreling;
