Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 oIn you, O Lord, do I ptake refuge;
qlet me never be put to shame;
in your rrighteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your uname’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you vtake me out of wthe net they have hidden for me,
for you are my xrefuge.
5 yInto your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, zfaithful God.
6 I ahate1 those who pay bregard to worthless cidols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have dknown the distress of my soul,
8 and you have not edelivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in fa broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am gin distress;
hmy eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and imy bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become ja reproach,
especially to my kneighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street lflee from me.
12 I have been mforgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like na broken vessel.
13 For I ohear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
pas they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I qtrust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My rtimes are in your hand;
srescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 tMake your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, ulet me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go vsilently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which wspeak xinsolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
yin the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In zthe cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you astore them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously bshown his steadfast love to me
when I was in ca besieged city.
“I am ecut off from fyour sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his gsaints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly hrepays the one who acts in pride.
24 iBe strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
The Lord Will Not Relent
1 Then the Lord said to me, p“Though qMoses rand Samuel sstood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
t“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
3 uI will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and vthe birds of the air wand the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 xAnd I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what yManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
5 z“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
zor who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 aYou have rejected me, declares the Lord;
byou keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
cI am weary of relenting.
7 dI have winnowed them with ea winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
fthey did not turn from their ways.
8 I have made their widows more in number
than gthe sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon them suddenly.
9 hShe who bore seven has grown feeble;
ishe has fainted away;
jher sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,
declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
10 kWoe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! lI have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11 The Lord said, “Have I not1 set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12 Can one break iron, iron mfrom the north, and bronze?
13 n“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ospoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies pin a land that you do not know, qfor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
15 rO Lord, you know;
sremember me and visit me,
stand take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
uknow that vfor your sake I bear reproach.
16 Your words were found, wand I ate them,
and xyour words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
yfor I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 zI did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
aI sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
bmy wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me clike a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
d“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall estand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 fAnd I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
gbut they shall not prevail over you,
hfor I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
21 gI will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of ithe ruthless.”
