You Are My Refuge
A Maskil1 of David, when he was in kthe cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I lcry out to the Lord;
with my voice I mplead for mercy to the Lord.
2 I npour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit ofaints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have phidden a trap for me.
4 qLook to the rright and see:
sthere is none who takes notice of me;
tno refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my urefuge,
my vportion in wthe land of the living.”
6 xAttend to my cry,
for yI am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
zfor they are too strong for me!
7 aBring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will bdeal bountifully with me.
My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
cgive ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your dfaithfulness answer me, in your drighteousness!
2 eEnter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous fbefore you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
ghe has crushed my life to the ground;
hhe has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit ifaints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
5 jI remember the days of old;
kI meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
6 lI stretch out my hands to you;
7 oAnswer me quickly, O Lord!
pMy spirit fails!
qHide not your face from me,
rlest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 sLet me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I ttrust.
uMake me know the way I should go,
vfor to you I lift up my soul.
9 wDeliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
I have fled to you for refuge.1
10 xTeach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
yLet your good Spirit zlead me
on alevel ground!
11 bFor your name’s sake, O Lord, cpreserve my life!
In your righteousness dbring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will ecut off my enemies,
and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your fservant.
The Lord Judges the Nations
1 “For behold, iin those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 jI will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And kI will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and lhave cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, mO Tyre and Sidon, and all nthe regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, oI will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For pyou have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.1 6 You have sold qthe people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and oI will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the rSabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”
The Day of the Lord Will Come
1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them gI am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 hthat you should remember the predictions of ithe holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come jin the last days with scoffing, kfollowing their own sinful desires. 4 lThey will say, “Where is the promise of mhis coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth nwas formed out of water and through water oby the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed pwas deluged with water and qperished. 7 But by the same word rthe heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and sdestruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ta thousand years as one day. 9 uThe Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise vas some count slowness, but wis patient toward you,1 xnot wishing that any should perish, but ythat all should reach repentance. 10 But zthe day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then athe heavens will pass away with a roar, and bthe heavenly bodies2 will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.3
