56 rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
I tput my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.
5 All day long they injure my cause;2
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They vstir up strife, they wlurk;
they xwatch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
yIn wrath zcast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;3
aput my tears in your bottle.
bAre they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
cin the day when I call.
This I know, that4 dGod is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.
12 I must perform my evows to you, O God;
I will erender thank offerings to you.
13 fFor you have delivered my soul from death,
gthat I may walk before God
hin the light of life.
57 lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul mtakes refuge;
in nthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
otill the storms of destruction pass by.
to God who pfulfills his purpose for me.
3 qHe will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame rhim who tramples on me. Selah
sGod will send out this steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of ulions;
the children of man, whose vteeth are spears and arrows,
whose wtongues are sharp swords.
5 xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set ya net for my steps;
my soul was zbowed down.
They adug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 bMy heart is csteadfast, O God,
Awake, fO harp and lyre!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!
58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?2
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands jdeal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are kestranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it mdoes not hear the voice of charmers
6 O God, nbreak the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them ovanish like water that runs away;
when he paims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail othat dissolves into slime,
like qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of rthorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he ssweep them away!3
10 tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is va reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who wjudges on earth.”
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my mcomplaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from nthe secret plots of the wicked,
3 who owhet their tongues like swords,
who paim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting from qambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and rwithout fear.
5 They shold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of tlaying snares secretly,
thinking, u“Who can see them?”
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For vthe inward mind and heart of a man are deep.
7 wBut God shoots his arrow at them;
8 They are brought to ruin, with their own xtongues turned against them;
all who ysee them will zwag their heads.
9 Then all mankind yfears;
they atell what God has brought about
10 Let bthe righteous one rejoice in the Lord
and ctake refuge in him!
Let all dthe upright in heart exult!
65 Praise eis due to you,1 O God, in Zion,
and to you shall fvows be performed.
2 O you who ghear prayer,
to you hshall all flesh come.
3 When iiniquities prevail against me,
you jatone for our transgressions.
4 kBlessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to ldwell in your courts!
We shall be msatisfied with the goodness of your house,
5 By nawesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
the hope of all othe ends of the earth
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being pgirded with might;
7 who qstills the roaring of the seas,
rthe tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and swater it;2
tthe river of God is full of water;
uyou provide their grain,
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
softening it with vshowers,
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks woverflow with abundance.
12 xThe pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills ygird themselves with joy,
13 zthe meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they ashout and sing together for joy.
7 hA good name is better than precious ointment,
and ithe day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will jlay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
kfor by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is lbetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 mFor as the crackling of nthorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.1
7 Surely ooppression drives the wise into madness,
and pa bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and qthe patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 rBe not quick in your spirit to become angry,
sfor anger lodges in the heart2 of fools.
10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who tsee the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like uthe protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that vwisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider wthe work of God:
xwho can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 yIn the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, zso that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
12 Brothers,1 tI entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. uYou did me no wrong. 13 You know it was vbecause of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you wat first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me xas an angel of God, yas Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by ztelling you the truth?2 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and anot only when I am present with you, 19 bmy little children, cfor whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ dis formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
21 gAnd Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, ha Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, i“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, j“Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, k“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and lknelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and mthrow it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat nthe crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, ogreat is your faith! pBe it done for you as you desire.” qAnd her daughter was phealed instantly.1
[1] 15:28