Bible Reading Plan – Day 122

₁When I was in trouble, I called to the LORD,

and he answered me.

₂Save me, LORD,

from liars and deceivers.

₃You liars, what will God do to you?

How will he punish you?

₄With a soldier's sharp arrows,

with red-hot charcoal!

₅Living among you is as bad as living in Meshech

or among the people of Kedar.

₆I have lived too long

with people who hate peace!

₇When I speak of peace,

they are for war.

₁I look to the mountains;

where will my help come from?

₂My help will come from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

₃He will not let you fall;

your protector is always awake.

₄The protector of Israel

never dozes or sleeps.

₅The LORD will guard you;

he is by your side to protect you.

₆The sun will not hurt you during the day,

nor the moon during the night.

₇The LORD will protect you from all danger;

he will keep you safe.

₈He will protect you as you come and go

now and for ever.

₁I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the LORD's house.”

₂And now we are here,

standing inside the gates of Jerusalem!

₃Jerusalem is a city restored

in beautiful order and harmony.

₄This is where the tribes come,

the tribes of Israel,

to give thanks to the LORD

according to his command.

₅Here the kings of Israel

sat to judge their people.

₆Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you prosper.

₇May there be peace inside your walls

and safety in your palaces.”

₈For the sake of my relatives and friends

I say to Jerusalem, “Peace be with you!”

₉For the sake of the house of the LORD our God

I pray for your prosperity.

₁LORD, I look up to you,

up to heaven, where you rule.

₂As a servant depends on his master,

as a maid depends on her mistress,

so we will keep looking to you, O LORD our God,

until you have mercy on us.

₃Be merciful to us, LORD, be merciful;

we have been treated with so much contempt.

₄We have been mocked too long by the rich

and scorned by proud oppressors.

₁What if the LORD had not been on our side?

Answer, O Israel!

₂“If the LORD had not been on our side

when our enemies attacked us,

₃then they would have swallowed us alive

in their furious anger against us;

₄then the flood would have carried us away,

the water would have covered us,

₅the raging torrent would have drowned us.”

₆Let us thank the LORD,

who has not let our enemies destroy us.

₇We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap;

the trap is broken, and we are free!

₈Our help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

₁Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,

which can never be shaken, never be moved.

₂As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the LORD surrounds his people

now and for ever.

₃The wicked will not always rule over the land of the righteous;

if they did, the righteous themselves might do evil.

₄LORD, do good to those who are good,

to those who obey your commands.

₅But when you punish the wicked,

punish also those who abandon your ways.

Peace be with Israel!

₁When the LORD brought us back to Jerusalem,

it was like a dream!

₂How we laughed, how we sang for joy!

Then the other nations said about us,

“The LORD did great things for them.”

₃Indeed he did great things for us;

how happy we were!

₄LORD, make us prosperous again,

just as the rain brings water back to dry riverbeds.

₅Let those who wept as they sowed their seed,

gather the harvest with joy!

₆Those who wept as they went out carrying the seed

will come back singing for joy,

as they bring in the harvest.

₁If the LORD does not build the house,

the work of the builders is useless;

if the LORD does not protect the city,

it is useless for the sentries to stand guard.

₂It is useless to work so hard for a living,

getting up early and going to bed late.

For the LORD provides for those he loves,

while they are asleep.

₃Children are a gift from the LORD;

they are a real blessing.

₄The sons a man has when he is young

are like arrows in a soldier's hand.

₅Happy is the man who has many such arrows.

He will never be defeated

when he meets his enemies in the place of judgement.

₁Happy are those who obey the LORD,

who live by his commands.

₂Your work will provide for your needs;

you will be happy and prosperous.

₃Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,

and your children will be like young olive trees round your table.

₄A man who obeys the LORD

will surely be blessed like this.

₅May the LORD bless you from Zion!

May you see Jerusalem prosper

all the days of your life!

₆May you live to see your grandchildren!

Peace be with Israel!

₁Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you

ever since you were young.

₂“Ever since I was young,

my enemies have persecuted me cruelly,

but they have not overcome me.

₃They cut deep wounds in my back

and made it like a ploughed field.

₄But the LORD, the righteous one,

has freed me from slavery.”

₅May everyone who hates Zion

be defeated and driven back.

₆May they all be like grass growing on the housetops,

which dries up before it can grow;

₇no one gathers it up

or carries it away in bundles.

₈No one who passes by will say,

“May the LORD bless you!

We bless you in the name of the LORD.”

₁From the depths of my despair I call to you, LORD.

₂Hear my cry, O Lord;

listen to my call for help!

₃If you kept a record of our sins,

who could escape being condemned?

₄But you forgive us,

so that we should stand in awe of you.

₅I wait eagerly for the LORD's help,

and in his word I trust.

₆I wait for the Lord

more eagerly than watchmen wait for the dawn —

than watchmen wait for the dawn.

₇Israel, trust in the LORD,

because his love is constant

and he is always willing to save.

₈He will save his people Israel

from all their sins.

₁LORD, I have given up my pride

and turned away from my arrogance.

I am not concerned with great matters

or with subjects too difficult for me.

₂Instead, I am content and at peace.

As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms,

so my heart is quiet within me.

₃Israel, trust in the LORD

now and for ever!

₁LORD, do not forget David

and all the hardships he endured.

₂Remember, LORD, what he promised,

the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob:

₃“I will not go home or go to bed;

₄I will not rest or sleep,

₅until I provide a place for the LORD,

a home for the Mighty God of Jacob.”

₆In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box,

and we found it in the fields of Jearim.

₇We said, “Let us go to the LORD's house;

let us worship before his throne.”

₈Come to the Temple, LORD, with the Covenant Box,

the symbol of your power,

and stay here for ever.

₉May your priests do always what is right;

may your people shout for joy!

₁₀You made a promise to your servant David;

do not reject your chosen king, LORD.

₁₁You made a solemn promise to David —

a promise you will not take back:

“I will make one of your sons king,

and he will rule after you.

₁₂If your sons are true to my covenant

and to the commands I give them,

their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings.”

₁₃The LORD has chosen Zion;

he wants to make it his home:

₁₄“This is where I will live for ever;

this is where I want to rule.

₁₅I will richly provide Zion with all she needs;

I will satisfy her poor with food.

₁₆I will bless her priests in all they do,

and her people will sing and shout for joy.

₁₇Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king;

here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king.

₁₈I will cover his enemies with shame,

but his kingdom will prosper and flourish.”