Psalm 109; Isaiah 45

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Psalm 109

Help Me, O Lord My God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

tBe not silent, O uGod of my praise!

For wicked and vdeceitful mouths are opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

They encircle me with words of hate,

and attack me wwithout cause.

In return for my love they xaccuse me,

but I ygive myself to prayer.1

So they zreward me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

aAppoint a wicked man bagainst him;

let an accuser stand cat his right hand.

When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;

let his dprayer be counted as sin!

May his edays be few;

may fanother take his goffice!

May his hchildren be fatherless

and his wife a widow!

10  May his children iwander about and beg,

jseeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!

11  May kthe creditor seize all that he has;

may kstrangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

12  Let there be none to lextend kindness to him,

nor any to mpity his fatherless children!

13  May his nposterity be cut off;

may his oname be blotted out in the second generation!

14  May pthe iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,

and let not the sin of his mother be qblotted out!

15  rLet them be before the Lord continually,

that he may scut off the memory of them from the earth!

16  For he did not remember to show kindness,

but pursued tthe poor and needy

and uthe brokenhearted, to put them to death.

17  vHe loved to curse; let curses come2 upon him!

He did not delight in blessing; may it be far3 from him!

18  He wclothed himself with cursing as his coat;

may it xsoak4 into his body like water,

like oil into his bones!

19  May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,

like a belt that he puts on every day!

20  May this be the reward of my yaccusers from the Lord,

of those who speak evil against my life!

21  But you, O God my Lord,

deal on my behalf zfor your name’s sake;

because your asteadfast love is good, deliver me!

22  For I am bpoor and needy,

and my heart is stricken within me.

23  I am gone like ca shadow at evening;

I am dshaken off like a locust.

24  My knees are weak ethrough fasting;

my fbody has become gaunt, with no fat.

25  I am gan object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they hwag their heads.

26  iHelp me, O Lord my God!

Save me according to your steadfast love!

27  Let them jknow that this is your hand;

you, O Lord, have done it!

28  kLet them curse, but you will bless!

They arise and are put to shame, but lyour servant will be glad!

29  May my accusers be mclothed with dishonor;

may they nbe wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

30  With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;

I will opraise him in the midst of the throng.

31  For he stands pat the right hand of the needy one,

to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.


Isaiah 45

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

Thus says the Lord to phis anointed, to Cyrus,

qwhose right hand I have grasped,

to subdue nations before him

and rto loose the belts of kings,

to open doors before him

that gates may not be closed:

I will go before you

and slevel the exalted places,1

tI will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,

uI will give you the treasures of darkness

and the hoards in secret places,

that you may know that it is I, the Lord,

the God of Israel, vwho call you by your name.

For the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen,

vI call you by your name,

wI name you, though you do not know me.

xI am the Lord, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

yI equip you, though you do not know me,

zthat people may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness;

I make well-being and acreate calamity;

I am the Lord, who does all these things.

bShower, O heavens, from above,

and clet the clouds rain down righteousness;

let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;

let the earth cause them both to sprout;

I the Lord have created it.

dWoe to him who strives with him who formed him,

a pot among earthen pots!

eDoes the clay say to him who forms it, What are you making?

or Your work has no handles?

10  Woe to him who says to a father, What are you begetting?

or to a woman, With what are you in labor?

11  Thus says fthe Lord,

the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:

gAsk me of things to come;

will you command me hconcerning my children and ithe work of my hands?2

12  jI made the earth

and created man on it;

it was my hands kthat stretched out the heavens,

and lI commanded all their host.

13  mI have stirred him up in righteousness,

nand I will make all his ways level;

ohe shall build my city

pand set my exiles free,

not for price or reward,

says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

14  Thus says the Lord:

qThe wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,

and the Sabeans, men of stature,

shall come over to you rand be yours;

they shall follow you;

they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.

They will plead with you, saying:

Surely God is in you, and there is no other,

no god besides him.

15  sTruly, you are a God who hides himself,

O God of Israel, the Savior.

16  tAll of them are put to shame and confounded;

the makers of idols go in confusion together.

17  But Israel is saved by the Lord

with everlasting salvation;

uyou shall not be put to shame or confounded

to all eternity.

18  vFor thus says the Lord,

who created the heavens

(he is God!),

who formed the earth and made it

(he established it;

he wdid not create it empty,

xhe formed it to be inhabited!):

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19  yI did not speak in secret,

in a land of darkness;

I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,

zSeek me in vain.3

I the Lord speak athe truth;

I declare what is right.

20  bAssemble yourselves and come;

draw near together,

you survivors of the nations!

cThey have no knowledge

who dcarry about their wooden idols,

eand keep on praying to a god

that cannot save.

21  fDeclare and present your case;

let them take counsel together!

Who told this long ago?

Who declared it of old?

Was it not I, the Lord?

And there is no other god besides me,

a righteous God gand a Savior;

there is none besides me.

22  Turn to me and be saved,

hall the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

23  iBy myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone out in jrighteousness

a word that shall not return:

kTo me every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear allegiance.4

24  lOnly in the Lord, it shall be said of me,

are righteousness and mstrength;

to him shall come and be ashamed

nall who were incensed against him.

25  In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

shall be justified and shall glory.