Day 19 of 31

¹God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

²They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your holy ones to the animals of the earth.

³Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.

⁴We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.

⁵How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you; on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;

⁷For they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.

⁸Do not hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.

⁹Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.

¹⁰Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants' blood is being poured out.

¹¹Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.

¹²Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.

¹³So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

¹Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine forth.

²Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might! Come to save us!

³Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

⁴Lord God of Hosts, How long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure.

⁶You make us a source of contention to our neighbors. Our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷Turn us again, God of Hosts. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God's cedars.

¹¹It sent out its branches to the sea, Its shoots to the River.

¹²Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?

¹³The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it.

¹⁴Turn again, we beg you, God of Hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,

¹⁵the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you made strong for yourself.

¹⁶It's burned with fire. It's cut down. They perish at your rebuke.

¹⁷Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.

¹⁸So we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Turn us again, Lord God of Hosts. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

¹Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!

²Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp.

³Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I did not know.

⁶"I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.

⁷You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah." Selah.

⁸"Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!

⁹There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.

¹⁰I am the Lord, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹But my people did not listen to my voice. Israel desired none of me.

¹²So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels.

¹³Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵The haters of the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.

¹⁶But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock."

¹God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.

²"How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?" Selah.

³"Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

⁴Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked."

⁵They do not know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶I said, "You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.

⁷Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers."

⁸Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.

¹God, do not keep silent. Do not keep silent, and do not be still, God.

²For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.

³They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.

⁴"Come," they say, "and let's destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more."

⁵For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you.

⁶The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;

⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

⁸Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah.

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;

¹⁰who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;

¹²who said, "Let us take possession of God's pasturelands."

¹³My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.

¹⁶Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, Lord.

¹⁷Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;

¹⁸that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.

¹Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.

²It isn't good to have zeal without knowledge; nor being hasty with one's feet and missing the way.

³The foolishness of man subverts his way; his heart rages against the Lord.

⁴Wealth adds many friends, but the poor is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.

⁶Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

⁷All the relatives of the poor shun him: how much more do his friends avoid him! He pursues them with pleas, but they are gone.

⁸He who gets wisdom loves his own soul. He who keeps understanding shall find good.

⁹A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.

¹⁰Delicate living is not appropriate for a fool, much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

¹¹The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger. It is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹²The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife's quarrels are a continual dripping.

¹⁴House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

¹⁵Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.

¹⁶He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is contemptuous in his ways shall die.

¹⁷He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord; he will reward him.

¹⁸Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.

¹⁹A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty, for if you rescue him, you must do it again.

²⁰Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter end.

²¹There are many plans in a man's heart, but the Lord's counsel will prevail.

²²That which makes a man to be desired is his kindness. A poor man is better than a liar.

²³The fear of the Lord leads to life, then contentment; he rests and will not be touched by trouble.

²⁴The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

²⁵Flog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶He who robs his father and drives away his mother, is a son who causes shame and brings reproach.

²⁷If you stop listening to instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A corrupt witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down iniquity.

²⁹Penalties are prepared for scoffers, and beatings for the backs of fools.