The Supremacy of God’s Son
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, awhom he appointed the heir of all things, bthrough whom also he created the world. 3 cHe is the radiance of the glory of God and dthe exact imprint of his nature, and ehe upholds the universe by the word of his power. After fmaking purification for sins, ghe sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the hname he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
i“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
j“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the kfirstborn into the world, he says,
l“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
m“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
n“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the ooil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And,
p“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
they will all qwear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will rroll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.1
But syou are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,
t“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all uministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to vinherit salvation?
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 dMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
eWhy are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, fbut you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises1 of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
gin you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and hdespised by the people.
7 All who see me imock me;
they make mouths at me; they jwag their heads;
8 k“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
9 Yet lyou are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 mBe not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is nnone to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring olion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For pdogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have qpierced my hands and feet2—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 rthey divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, scome quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the tlion!
You have rescued3 me from the horns of the wild oxen!
22 uI will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, vglorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will wperform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted4 shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the xends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down yto the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be ztold of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people ayet unborn,
that he has done it.
