Psalms 73; Psalms 109:1-22; Lamentations 3:1-18; Acts 2:37-40; John 16:5-8; Jeremiah 31:17-19

Psalms 73

1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!

2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat.

5 They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them.

7 Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot.

8 They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high.

9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them.

11 They say, "How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?"

12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence;

14 For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

16 When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight

17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.

19 How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!

20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord , when aroused, You will despise their form.

21 When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within,

22 Then I was senseless and ignorant ; I was like a beast before You.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.

24 With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.

28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.

Psalms 109:1-22

1 O God of my praise, Do not be silent!

2 For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause.

4 In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.

5 Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love.

6 Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few; Let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow.

10 Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.

11 Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.

12 Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD , And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth;

16 Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.

17 He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

18 But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered into his body like water And like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself.

20 Let this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD , And of those who speak evil against my soul.

21 But You, O GOD, the Lord , deal kindly with me for Your name's sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;

22 For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.

Lamentations 3:1-18

1 I am the man who has seen affliction Because of the rod of His wrath.

2 He has driven me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.

3 Surely against me He has turned His hand Repeatedly all the day.

4 He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away, He has broken my bones.

5 He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.

6 In dark places He has made me dwell, Like those who have long been dead.

7 He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy.

8 Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.

10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.

11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate.

12 He bent His bow And set me as a target for the arrow.

13 He made the arrows of His quiver To enter into my inward parts.

14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their mocking song all the day.

15 He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood.

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.

17 My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.

18 So I say, "My strength has perished, And so has my hope from the LORD ."

Acts 2:37-40

37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren , what shall we do?"

38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."

40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"

John 16:5-8

5 "But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'

6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

Jeremiah 31:17-19

17 "There is hope for your future," declares the LORD , "And your children will return to their own territory.

18 "I have surely heard Ephraim grieving, 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained calf; Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the LORD my God.

19 'For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the reproach of my youth.'