Lamentations 1, 2 Corinthians 9 - 10, Psalm 126

Zion Lays Desolate

א Aleph

How ^alonely sits the cityThat was ^bgreat with people!She has become like a ^cwidowWho was once ^dgreat among the nations!She who was a princess among the ¹provincesHas become a ^eforced laborer!

ב Beth

²She ^aweeps bitterly in the night,And her tears are on her cheeks;She has none to comfort herAmong all her ^blovers.All her friends have ^cdealt treacherously with her;They have become her enemies.

ג Gimel

³^aJudah has gone into exile because of afflictionAnd because of great slavery;She sits ^bamong the nations,But she has found no rest;All ^cher pursuers have overtaken herIn the midst of ¹distress.

ד Daleth

⁴The roads ¹of Zion are in mourningBecause ^ano one comes to the appointed times.All her gates are ^bdesolate;Her priests are sighing,Her ^cvirgins are grieving,And she herself ²is ^dbitter.

ה He

⁵Her adversaries have become ¹her masters;Her enemies are complacent;For ²Yahweh has ^acaused her griefBecause of the greatness of her transgressions;Her infants have gone awayAs captives before the adversary.

ו Vav

⁶So all her ^amajestyHas gone out from the daughter of Zion;Her princes have become like deerThat have found no pasture;So they have ¹^,^bfled without strengthBefore the pursuer.

ז Zayin

⁷In the days of her affliction and homelessness^aJerusalem remembers all her precious thingsThat were from the days of old,When her people fell into the hand of the adversaryAnd ^bno one helped her.The adversaries saw her;They ^claughed at her ¹ruin.

ח Heth

⁸Jerusalem sinned ^agreatly;Therefore ^bshe has become an impure thing.All who honored her despise herBecause they have seen her nakedness;Even ^cshe herself sighs and turns away.

ט Teth

⁹Her ^auncleanness was in her skirts;She did not remember her ^bfuture.Therefore she has ^cgone down astonishingly;^dShe has no comforter.“^eSee, O Yahweh, my affliction,For the enemy has ^fmagnified himself!”

י Yodh

¹⁰The adversary has stretched out his handOver all her desirable things,For she has seen the ^anations enter her sanctuary,The ones whom You commandedThat they should ^bnot enter into Your assembly.

כ Kaph

¹¹All her people are sighing, ^aseeking bread;They have given their desirable things for foodTo ^brestore their souls.“See, O Yahweh, and look,For I am ^cdespised.”

ל Lamedh

¹²“Is ^ait nothing to all you who pass this way?Look and see if there is any ¹pain like my ²painWhich was dealt severely to me,Which ^bYahweh grieved me with on the day of His ^cburning anger.

מ Mem

¹³“From on high He sent fire into my ^abones,And it dominated them.He has spread a ^bnet for my feet;He has turned me back;He has made me ^cdesolate,¹Faint all day long.

נ Nun

¹⁴“The ^ayoke of my transgressions is bound;By His hand they are knit together.They have ^bcome upon my neck;He has made my strength stumble.The Lord ^chas given me into the handsOf those against whom I am not able to stand.

ס Samekh

¹⁵“The ^aLord has rejected all my mighty menIn my midst;He has called an appointed time against meTo break my ^byoung men;The Lord has ^ctrodden as in a wine pressThe virgin daughter of Judah.

ע Ayin

¹⁶“For these things I ^aam weeping;¹My eyes run down with water;Because far from me is a ^bcomforter,One who restores my soul.My children are desolateBecause the enemy has prevailed.”

פ Pe

¹⁷Zion ^astretches out her hands;There is no one to comfort her;Yahweh has ^bcommanded concerning JacobThat the ones round about him should be his adversaries;^cJerusalem has become an impure thing among them.

צ Tsadhe

¹⁸“Yahweh is ^arighteous;For I have ^brebelled against His ¹command;Hear now, all peoples,And ^cbehold my ²pain;^dMy virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.

ק Qoph

¹⁹“I ^acalled to my lovers, but they deceived me;My ^bpriests and my elders breathed their last in the cityWhile they sought food for themselves in order to ^crestore their souls.

ר Resh

²⁰“See, O Yahweh, for I am in distress;My ¹^,^ainmost being is greatly disturbed;My heart is overturned within me,For I have been very ^brebellious.In the street the sword bereaves;In the house it is like death.

שׁ Shin

²¹“They have heard that I ^aam sighing;There is no one to comfort me;All my enemies have heard of the ¹evil done to me;They ^brejoice that You have done it.You have brought the day which You have proclaimed,So that they will become ^clike me.

ת Tav

²²“Let all their evil come before You;And ^adeal severely with them as You have dealt severely with meFor all my transgressions;For my groans are great and my heart is faint.”

God Loves a Cheerful Giver

9For ^ait is superfluous for me to write to you about this ^bministry to the ¹saints; ²for I know your readiness, of which I ^aboast about you to the ^bMacedonians, that ^cAchaia has been prepared since ^dlast year, and your zeal stirred up most of them. ³But I have sent the brothers, in order that our ^aboasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, ^bas I was saying, you may be prepared; ⁴lest if any ^aMacedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—be put to shame in this certainty of ours. ⁵So I regarded it necessary to encourage the ^abrothers that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised ^bblessing, so that the same would be ready as a ^cblessing and not as a ¹^,^dbegrudging obligation.

⁶Now this I say, ^ahe who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows with blessing will also reap with blessing. ⁷Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not ^agrudgingly or under compulsion, for ^bGod loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And ^aGod is able to make every grace abound to you, so that in everything at every time having every sufficiency, you may have an abundance for every good deed; ⁹as it is written, “^aHe scattered abroad, he gave to the needy,His righteousness ¹stands forever.”

¹⁰Now He who supplies ^aseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and ^bincrease the harvest of your righteousness; ¹¹you will be ^aenriched in everything for all generosity, which through us is bringing about ^bthanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying ^athe needs of the ¹saints, but is also abounding ^bthrough many thanksgivings to God. ¹³Because of the proven character given by this ^aministry, they will ^bglorify God for your obedience to your ^cconfession of the ^dgospel of Christ and for the ¹generosity of your ²fellowship toward them and toward all, ¹⁴while they also, by prayer on your behalf, long for you because of the surpassing grace of God on you. ¹⁵¹^,^aThanks be to God for His indescribable ^bgift!

Paul Defends His Authority

10Now ^aI, Paul, myself ^bplead with you by the ^cgentleness and forbearance of Christ—I who ^dam humble when face-to-face with you, but courageous toward you when absent! ²But I beg that ^awhen I am present I need not act so courageously with the confidence that I consider to daringly use against ^bsome, who consider us as if we walked ^caccording to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war ^aaccording to the flesh, ⁴for the ^aweapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but ¹divinely powerful ^bfor the tearing down of strongholds, ⁵as we tear down speculations and every ^alofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the ^bobedience of Christ, ⁶and are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever ^ayour obedience is fulfilled.

⁷¹^,^aYou are looking at ²things as they are outwardly. ^bIf anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, ^cso also are we. ⁸For even if ^aI boast somewhat ¹further about our ^bauthority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame, ⁹¹for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters. ¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his ¹personal presence is ^aweak and ^bhis ²words contemptible.” ¹¹Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.

¹²For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with ¹some of those who ^acommend themselves, but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. ¹³But we will not boast ^abeyond our measure, but ¹^,^bwithin the measure of the area of influence which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach you, (for ^awe were the first to come even as far as you in the ^bgospel of Christ), ¹⁵not boasting ^abeyond our measure in ^bother men’s labors, but having the hope—that as ^cyour faith grows—to be ^denlarged even more by you ¹within our area of influence, ¹⁶so as to ^aproclaim the gospel even to ^bthe regions beyond you, and not to boast ¹^,^cin what has been accomplished in the area of influence of another. ¹⁷But ^ahe who boasts is to boast in the Lord. ¹⁸For it is not the one who ^acommends himself that is approved, but the one ^bwhom the Lord commends.

Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Joy

126

A Song of Ascents.

When Yahweh ¹^,^areturned ²the captive ones of Zion,We were ^blike those who dream.²Then our ^amouth was filled with laughterAnd our ^btongue with shouts of joy;Then they said among the nations,“Yahweh has ^cdone great things for them.”³Yahweh has done great things for us;We are ^aglad.⁴Restore our captivity, O Yahweh,As the ¹^,^astreams in the Negev.⁵Those who sow in ^atears shall reap with ^bshouts of joy.⁶He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves with him.