Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
1 dIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
elet me never be put to shame!
2 fIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a grock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
hyou are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is icontinually of you.
7 I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 jDo not cast me off in the time of old age;
kforsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who lwatch for my life mconsult together
11 and nsay, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, obe not far from me;
O my God, pmake haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be qcovered
who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for rtheir number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So seven to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 tYour righteousness, O God,
ureaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, vwho is like you?
20 wYou who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will xrevive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
22 yI will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
Evil in the Land
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 c“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: dAmend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly eexecute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods fto your own harm, 7 gthen I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is hcalled by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a iden of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, jwhere I made my name dwell at first, and see kwhat I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you lpersistently you did not listen, and mwhen I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore nI will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.
16 “As for you, odo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.
Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, a‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 bBut I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother1 will be liable to judgment; whoever insults2 his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell3 of fire. 23 So cif you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 dCome to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out euntil you have paid the last penny.4
Lust
27 “You have heard that it was said, f‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who glooks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 hIf your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Divorce
31 “It was also said, i‘Whoever jdivorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that keveryone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, l‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, mDo not take an oath at all, either by nheaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the ocity of the great pKing. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 qLet what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.5
Retaliation
38 r“You have heard that it was said, s‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. tBut if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,6 let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 uGive to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love Your Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, v‘You shall wlove your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, xLove your enemies and ypray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and zsends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,7 what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be aperfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
