Lamentations 2, 2 Corinthians 11 - 12, Psalms 127 - 128

The Anger of Yahweh

א Aleph

How the Lord has ^acovered the daughter of ZionWith a cloud in His anger!He has ^bcast from heaven to earthThe ^cbeauty of Israel,And has not remembered the ^dfootstool of His feetIn the day of His anger.

ב Beth

²The Lord has ^aswallowed up; He has not sparedAll the habitations of Jacob.In His wrath He has ^bpulled downThe strongholds of the daughter of Judah;He has ^cbrought them down to the ground;He has ^dprofaned the kingdom and its princes.

ג Gimel

³In ¹hot anger He has cut in pieces²All the ^astrength of Israel;He has ^bturned back His right handFrom before the enemy.And He has ^cburned in Jacob like a flaming fireDevouring round about.

ד Daleth

⁴He has bent His ^abow like an enemy;He has set His right hand like an adversaryAnd killed all that were ^bdesirable to the eye;In the tent of the daughter of ZionHe has ^cpoured out His wrath like fire.

ה He

⁵The Lord has become like an ^aenemy.He has ^bswallowed up Israel;He has swallowed up all its ^cpalaces;He has brought its strongholds to ruinAnd ^dmultiplied in the daughter of JudahMourning and moaning.

ו Vav

⁶And He has violently treated His ¹tabernacle like a garden booth;He has ^abrought His appointed ²meeting place to ruin.Yahweh has ^bcaused to be forgottenThe appointed time and sabbath in Zion,And He has ^cspurned king and priestIn the indignation of His anger.

ז Zayin

⁷The Lord has ^arejected His altar;He has abandoned His sanctuary;He ^bhas delivered into the hand of the enemyThe walls of her palaces.They have made a ^cnoise in the house of YahwehAs in the day of an appointed time.

ח Heth

⁸Yahweh ¹determined to bring to ruinThe wall of the daughter of Zion.He has ^astretched out a line;He has not turned His hand back from swallowing up,And He has ^bcaused rampart and wall to mourn;They have languished together.

ט Teth

⁹Her ^agates have sunk into the ground;He has destroyed and broken her bars.Her king and her princes are among the nations;The ^blaw is no more.Also, her prophets find^cNo vision from Yahweh.

י Yodh

¹⁰The elders of the daughter of Zion^aSit on the ground; they ^bare silent.They have thrown ^cdust up on their heads;They have girded themselves with ^dsackcloth.The ^evirgins of JerusalemHave bowed their heads down to the ground.

כ Kaph

¹¹My ^aeyes fail because of tears;My ¹^,^binmost being is greatly disturbed;My ²^,^cheart is poured out on the earth^dBecause of the ³destruction of the daughter of my people,When ^einfants and nursing babies faintIn the open squares of the city.

ל Lamedh

¹²They say to their mothers,“^aWhere is grain and wine?”As they faint like a wounded manIn the open squares of the city,As their ^blife is poured outOn their mothers’ bosom.

מ Mem

¹³What shall I testify about you?To what ^ashall I equate you,O daughter of Jerusalem?To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,O ^bvirgin daughter of Zion?For your ¹destruction is as vast as the sea;Who can ^cheal you?

נ Nun

¹⁴Your ^aprophets have beheld for youWorthless and ineffective visions;And they have not ^buncovered your iniquitySo as to ¹return you from captivity,But they have ^cbeheld for you worthless and misleading ²oracles.

ס Samekh

¹⁵All who pass along the way^aClap their hands in derision at you;They ^bhiss and shake their headsAt the daughter of Jerusalem,“Is this the city of which they said,‘^cThe perfection of beauty,^dThe joy of the whole earth’?”

פ Pe

¹⁶All ^ayour enemiesHave opened their mouths wide against you;They hiss and ^bgnash their teeth.They say, “We have ^cswallowed her up!Surely this is the ^dday for which we have hoped;We have found it, we have seen it.”

ע Ayin

¹⁷Yahweh has ^adone what He purposed;He has completed His wordWhich He commanded from days of old.He has pulled down ^bwithout sparing,And He has caused the enemy to ^cbe glad over you;He has ^dexalted the ¹might of your adversaries.

צ Tsadhe

¹⁸Their ^aheart cried out to the Lord,“O ^bwall of the daughter of Zion,Let your ^ctears run down like a river day and night;Give yourself no relief;Let ¹your eyes not be still.

ק Qoph

¹⁹“Arise, cry aloud in the ^anightAt the head of the night watches;^bPour out your heart like waterBefore the presence of the Lord;Lift up your hands to HimFor the ^clife of your infantsWho are ^dfaint because of hungerAt the head of every street.”

ר Resh

²⁰See, O Yahweh, and look!With ^awhom have You dealt thus?Should women ^beat their ¹offspring,The infants who were ²born healthy?Should ^cpriest and prophet be killedIn the sanctuary of the Lord?

שׁ Shin

²¹On the ground in the streetsLie ^ayoung and old;My ^bvirgins and my young menHave fallen by the sword.You have killed them in the day of Your anger;You have slaughtered, ^cnot sparing.

ת Tav

²²You called as in the day of an appointed timeMy ^aterrors on every side;And there was ^bno one who escaped or survivedIn the day of Yahweh’s anger.Those ^cwhom I ¹gave birth to and reared,My enemy consumed them.

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11I wish that you would ^abear with me in a little ^bfoolishness, but ¹indeed you are bearing with me. ²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I ^abetrothed you to one husband, so that I might ^bpresent you as a pure virgin to Christ. ³But I fear that, as the ^aserpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. ⁴For if ¹one comes and preaches ^aanother Jesus whom we did not preach, or you receive a ^bdifferent spirit which you did not receive, or a ^cdifferent gospel which you did not accept, you ^dbear this ^ebeautifully. ⁵For I consider myself ^ain no way inferior to the ¹most-eminent apostles. ⁶But even if I am ^aunskilled in word, yet I am not so in ^bknowledge; in fact, in every way we have ^cmade this evident to you in all things.

⁷Or ^adid I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed the ^bgospel of God to you ^cwithout charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by ^ataking wages from them to minister to you. ⁹And when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^anot a burden to anyone; for when ^bthe brothers came from ^cMacedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept and will keep myself from ^dbeing a burden to you. ¹⁰^aAs the truth of Christ is in me, ^bthis boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^cAchaia. ¹¹Why? ^aBecause I do not love you? ^bGod knows I do!

¹²But what I am doing I will continue to do, ^aso that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be found just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. ¹³For such men are ^afalse apostles, ^bdeceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And no wonder, for even ^aSatan disguises himself as an ^bangel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, ^awhose end will be according to their deeds.

¹⁶^aAgain I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷What I am saying, I am not saying ¹^,^aaccording to the Lord, but as ^bin foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸Since ^amany boast ^baccording to the flesh, I will boast also. ¹⁹For you, ^abeing so wise, are bearing the foolish gladly. ²⁰For you bear it if anyone ^aenslaves you, anyone ^bdevours you, anyone ^ctakes advantage of you, anyone ^dexalts himself, anyone ^ehits you in the face. ²¹To my ^ashame I must say that we have been ^bweak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else ^cis daring—I ^dspeak in foolishness—I am just as daring myself. ²²Are they ^aHebrews? ^bSo am I. Are they ^cIsraelites? ^dSo am I. Are they Abraham’s ^eseed? ^fSo am I. ²³Are they ^aministers of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in ¹^,^bfar more labors, in ²^,^cfar more imprisonments, in ^dbeatings without number, in frequent ^edanger of death. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews ^aforty lashes less one. ²⁵Three times I was ^abeaten with rods, once I was ^bstoned, three times I was shipwrecked—a night and a day I have spent in the deep. ²⁶I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my ^acountrymen, dangers from the ^bGentiles, dangers in the ^ccity, dangers in the desolate places, dangers on the sea, dangers among ^dfalse brothers. ²⁷I have been in ^alabor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in ^bstarvation and thirst, often ^chungry, in cold and ¹^,^dwithout enough clothing. ²⁸Apart from such ¹external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for ^aall the churches. ²⁹Who is ^aweak without my being weak? Who is made to stumble ¹without my burning concern?

³⁰If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my ^aweakness. ³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^aHe who is blessed forever, ^bknows that I am not lying. ³²In ^aDamascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was ^bguarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, ³³and I was let down in a basket ^athrough a window ¹in the wall, and so escaped his hands.

A Vision of Paradise

12^aIt is necessary to boast, though it is not profitable, but I will go on to visions and ^brevelations ¹of the Lord. ²I know a man ^ain Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^bGod knows—such a man was ^ccaught up to the ^dthird heaven. ³And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^aGod knows— ⁴was ^acaught up into ^bParadise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. ⁵^aOn behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in ^bweaknesses. ⁶For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^afoolish, ^bfor I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will consider me beyond what he sees in me or hears from me.

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷Because of the surpassing greatness of the ^arevelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a ^bthorn in the flesh, a ^cmessenger of Satan to ¹torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord ^athree times that it might leave me. ⁹And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^apower is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^bboast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰Therefore ^aI am well content with weaknesses, with ¹insults, with ^bdistresses, with ^cpersecutions and ^dhardships, ^efor the sake of Christ, for ^fwhen I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

¹¹I have become ^afoolish; you yourselves compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you, for ^bin no respect was I inferior to the ¹most-eminent apostles, even if ^cI am nothing. ¹²The ¹^,^asigns ²of a true apostle were worked out among you with all perseverance, by ³signs and wonders and ⁴miracles. ¹³For in what respect were you treated as less than the rest of the churches, except that ^aI myself did not become a burden to you? ¹Forgive me ^bthis wrong!

¹⁴Here ^afor this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^bwill not be a burden to you; for I ^cdo not seek what is yours, but ^dyou. For ^echildren ought not to save up for their parents, but ^fparents for their children. ¹⁵So I will ^amost gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. If ^bI love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶But be that as it may, I ^adid not burden you myself. Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I ^btook you in by deceit. ¹⁷^aHave I taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you? ¹⁸I ^aencouraged ^bTitus to go, and I sent ^cthe brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Did we not walk ¹in the same ^dspirit—^ein the very same steps?

¹⁹All this time ¹you think we are defending ourselves to you. We speak in Christ ^ain the sight of God. ^bAnd all these things, ^cbeloved, are for your building up. ²⁰For I am afraid that perhaps ^awhen I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^bstrife, jealousy, ^coutbursts of anger, ^dselfish ambition, ^eslanders, ^fgossip, arrogance, disturbances. ²¹I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^asinned in the past and not repented of the ^bimpurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality which they have practiced.

Unless Yahweh Builds the House

127

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless Yahweh ^abuilds the house,They labor in vain who build it;Unless Yahweh ^bwatches the city,The watchman keeps awake in vain.²It is in vain that you rise up early,That you sit out late,O you who ^aeat the bread of ¹painful labors;For in this manner, He gives ^bsleep to His ^cbeloved.³Behold, ^achildren are ¹an inheritance of Yahweh,The ^bfruit of the womb is a reward.⁴Like arrows in the hand of a ^awarrior,So are the children of one’s youth.⁵How ^ablessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;^bThey will not be ashamedWhen they ^cspeak with enemies ^din the gate.

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears Yahweh

128

A Song of Ascents.

^aHow blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh,Who ^bwalks in His ways.²When you shall ^aeat of the ¹^,^bfruit of the labor of your hands,How blessed will you be and ^chow well will it be for you.³Your wife shall be like a ^afruitful vineIn the innermost parts of your house,Your children like ^bolive plantsAll around your table.⁴Behold, for thus shall the man be blessedWho fears Yahweh.⁵^aMay Yahweh bless you ^bfrom Zion,That you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.⁶Indeed, may you see your ^achildren’s children.^bPeace be upon Israel!