I Cry Out Day and Night Before You
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to sMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil1 of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
I tcry out uday and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
vlike the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my wcompanions to shun me;
you have made me a horror2 to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 xmy eye grows dim through sorrow.
yEvery day I call upon you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
zDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
ain the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.3
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.4
The Man of Lawlessness
1 Now concerning the rcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ and sour being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,1 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or talarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter useeming to be from us, to the effect that the vday of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the wrebellion comes first, and the xman of lawlessness2 is revealed, the son of destruction,3 4 who opposes and yexalts himself against every zso-called god or object of worship, aso that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is balready at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill cwith the breath of his dmouth and bring to nothing by the eappearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false fsigns and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore gGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that hall may be condemned who idid not believe the truth but jhad pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, kbrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the lfirstfruits4 to be saved, through msanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he ncalled you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ostand firm and hold to the ptraditions that you were taught by us, qeither by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good rhope through grace, 17 scomfort your hearts and testablish them in every good work and word.
