Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?
2 O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are yholy,
zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they bcried and were rescued;
in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am da worm and not a man,
escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.
7 All who see me gmock me;
they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;
8 i“He trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;
let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who ltook 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 mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not nfar from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is onone to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;
13 they ropen wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am spoured out like water,
and all my bones are tout of joint;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is wdried up like a potsherd,
and my xtongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For ydogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers zencircles me;
they have apierced my hands and feet2—
17 I can count all my bones—
they bstare and gloat over me;
18 cthey divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!
O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of ethe dog!
21 Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!
22 hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who jfear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of lthe afflicted,
and he has not mhidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he ncried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;
my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.
26 rThe afflicted4 shall seat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts tlive forever!
27 All uthe ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all vthe families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For wkingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;
31 they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,
that he has done it.
Food Offered to Idols
1 Now concerning1 mfood offered to idols: we know that n“all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” opuffs up, pbut love builds up. 2 qIf anyone imagines that he knows something, rhe does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, she is known by God.2
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that t“an idol has no real existence,” and that u“there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be vso-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet wfor us there is one God, the Father, xfrom whom are all things and for whom we exist, and yone Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and zthrough whom we exist.
7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, athrough former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and btheir conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 cFood will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care dthat this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block eto the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating3 in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged,4 if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is fdestroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers5 and gwounding their conscience when it is weak, hyou sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, iif food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
