Teach Me Your Paths
1 Of David.
1 vTo you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 wO my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, xnone who ywait for you shall be zput to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 aMake me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me bin your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 cRemember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
daccording to your steadfast love remember me,
efor the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who fkeep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 gFor your name’s sake, O Lord,
hpardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and ihis offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The jfriendship2 of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for khe will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 lTurn to me and be gracious to me,
mfor I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 nRedeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
Comfort for God’s People
1 fComfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare1 is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
“In the wilderness hprepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be irevealed,
and jall flesh shall see it together,
kfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,3 “What shall I cry?”
lAll flesh is grass,
and all its beauty4 is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;5
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of mgood news;6
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, nhis reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a oshepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
The Day of the Lord Will Come
1 This is now the ssecond letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am tstirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 uthat you should remember the vpredictions wof the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, xthat scoffers will come yin the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, z“Where is the promise of his acoming? 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, bthat the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water cby the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was ddeluged with water and eperished. 7 But by the same word fthe heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, gand a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is hpatient toward you,1 inot wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come jlike a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies2 will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.3
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for knew heavens and a new earth lin which righteousness dwells.
Final Words
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, mbe diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.