Bible Readings for October 30, 2015

Today our passages are Lamentations 2:20–3:66; Hebrews 1:1-14; Psalm 102:1-28; and Proverbs 26:21-22. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal. 

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Lamentations 2:20-3:66 (Contemporary English Version)

Jerusalem Speaks:

 ²⁰Think about it, LORD!    Have you ever been this cruel
   to anyone before?
   Is it right for mothers
   to eat their children,
   or for priests and prophets
   to be killed in your temple?
    ²¹My people, both young and old,
   lie dead in the streets.
   Because you were angry,
   my young men and women
   were brutally slaughtered.
    ²²When you were angry, LORD,
   you invited my enemies
   like guests for a party.
   No one survived that day;
   enemies killed my children,
   my own little ones.
   

Lamentations 3

There Is Still Hope

The Prophet Speaks:

 ¹I have suffered much    because God was angry.
    ²He chased me into a dark place,
   where no light could enter.
    ³I am the only one he punishes
   over and over again,
   without ever stopping.
    ⁴God caused my skin and flesh
   to waste away,
   and he crushed my bones.
    ⁵He attacked and surrounded me
   with hardships and trouble;
    ⁶he forced me to sit in the dark
   like someone long dead.
    ⁷God built a fence around me
   that I cannot climb over,
   and he chained me down.
    ⁸Even when I shouted
   and prayed for help,
   he refused to listen.
    ⁹God put big rocks in my way
   and made me follow
   a crooked path.
    ¹⁰God was like a bear or a lion
   waiting in ambush for me;
    ¹¹he dragged me from the road,
   then tore me to shreds. ^{[a] 12}God took careful aim
   and shot his arrows
    ¹³straight through my heart.
    ¹⁴I am a joke to everyone--
   no one ever stops
   making fun of me.
    ¹⁵God has turned my life sour.
    ¹⁶He made me eat gravel
   and rubbed me in the dirt.
    ¹⁷I cannot find peace
   or remember happiness.
    ¹⁸I tell myself, "I am finished!
   I can't count on the LORD
   to do anything for me."
    ¹⁹Just thinking of my troubles
   and my lonely wandering
   makes me miserable.
    ²⁰That's all I ever think about,
   and I am depressed. ^{[b] 21}Then I remember something
   that fills me with hope.
    ²²The LORD's kindness never fails!
   If he had not been merciful,
   we would have been destroyed. ^{[c] 23}The LORD can always be trusted
   to show mercy each morning.
    ²⁴Deep in my heart I say,
   "The LORD is all I need;
   I can depend on him!"
    ²⁵The LORD is kind to everyone
   who trusts and obeys him.
    ²⁶It is good to wait patiently
   for the LORD to save us.
    ²⁷When we are young,
   it is good to struggle hard
    ²⁸and to sit silently alone,
   if this is what
   the LORD intends.
    ²⁹Being rubbed in the dirt
   can teach us a lesson; ^{[d] 30}we can also learn from insults
   and hard knocks.
    ³¹The Lord won't always reject us!
    ³²He causes a lot of suffering,
   but he also has pity
   because of his great love.
    ³³The Lord doesn't enjoy
   sending grief or pain.
    ³⁴Don't trample prisoners
   under your feet
    ³⁵or cheat anyone out of
   what is rightfully theirs.
   God Most High sees everything,
    ³⁶and he knows
   when you refuse
   to give someone a fair trial.
    ³⁷No one can do anything
   without the Lord's approval.
    ³⁸Good and bad each happen
   at the command
   of God Most High.
    ³⁹We're still alive!
   We shouldn't complain
   when we are being punished
   for our sins.
    ⁴⁰Instead, we should think
   about the way we are living,
   and turn back to the LORD.
    ⁴¹When we lift our hands
   in prayer to God in heaven,
   we should offer him our hearts
   and say, ⁴²"We've sinned!
   We've rebelled against you,
   and you haven't forgiven us!
    ⁴³Anger is written all over you,
   as you pursue and slaughter us
   without showing pity.
    ⁴⁴You are behind a wall of clouds
   that blocks out our prayers.
    ⁴⁵You allowed nations
   to treat us like garbage;
    ⁴⁶our enemies curse us.
    ⁴⁷We are terrified and trapped,
   caught and crushed."
    ⁴⁸My people are destroyed!
   Tears flood my eyes,
    ⁴⁹and they won't stop
    ⁵⁰until the LORD looks down
   from heaven and helps.
    ⁵¹I am horrified when I see
   what enemies have done
   to the young women of our city.
    ⁵²No one had reason to hate me,
   but I was hunted down
   like a bird.
    ⁵³Then they tried to kill me
   by tossing me into a pit
   and throwing stones at me.
    ⁵⁴Water covered my head--
   I thought I was gone.
    ⁵⁵From the bottom of the pit,
   I prayed to you, LORD.
    ⁵⁶I begged you to listen.
   "Help!" I shouted. "Save me!"
   You answered my prayer
    ⁵⁷and came when I was in need.
   You told me, "Don't worry!"
    ⁵⁸You rescued me
   and saved my life.
    ⁵⁹You saw them abuse me, LORD,
   so make things right.
    ⁶⁰You know every plot
   they have made against me.
    ⁶¹Yes, you know their insults
   and their evil plans.
    ⁶²All day long they attack
   with words and whispers.
    ⁶³No matter what they are doing,
   they keep on mocking me.
    ⁶⁴Pay them back for everything
   they have done, LORD!
    ⁶⁵Put your curse on them
   and make them suffer. ^{[e] 66}Get angry and go after them
   until not a trace is left
   under the heavens.
   

Footnotes:

1. Lamentations 3:11 shreds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
2. Lamentations 3:20 I am depressed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
3. Lamentations 3:22 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
4. Lamentations 3:29 lesson: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 29.
5. Lamentations 3:65 make them suffer: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Hebrews 1:1-14 (Contemporary English Version)

Hebrews 1

 ¹Long ago in many ways and at many times God's prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. ²But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son. ³God's Son has all the brightness of God's own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together.    After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side ^[a] of the glorious God in heaven. ⁴He had become much greater than the angels, and the name he was given is far greater than any of theirs.

God's Son Is Greater than Angels

 ⁵God has never said    to any of the angels,
   "You are my Son, because today
   I have become your Father!"
   Neither has God said
   to any of them,
   "I will be his Father,
   and he will be my Son!"
    ⁶When God brings his first-born Son ^[b] into the world, he commands all of his angels to worship him. ⁷And when God speaks about the angels, he says,
   "I change my angels into wind
   and my servants
   into flaming fire."
    ⁸But God says about his Son,
   "You are God,
   and you will rule
   as King forever!
   Your ^[c] royal power brings about justice.
    ⁹You loved justice
   and hated evil,
   and so I, your God,
   have chosen you.
   I appointed you
   and made you happier
   than any of your friends."
    ¹⁰The Scriptures also say,
   "In the beginning, Lord,
   you were the one
   who laid the foundation
   of the earth
   and created the heavens.
    ¹¹They will all disappear
   and wear out like clothes,
   but you will last forever.
    ¹²You will roll them up
   like a robe
   and change them
   like a garment.
   But you are always the same,
   and you will live forever."
    ¹³God never said to any
   of the angels,
   "Sit at my right side
   until I make your enemies
   into a footstool for you!"
    ¹⁴Angels are merely spirits sent to serve people who are going to be saved.
   

Footnotes:

1. Hebrews 1:3 right side: The place of honor and power.
2. Hebrews 1:6 first-born Son: The first son born into a family had certain privileges that the other children did not have. In 12.23 "first-born" refers to God's special people.
3. Hebrews 1:8 Your: Some manuscripts have "His."

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Psalm 102:1-28 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 102

(A prayer for someone who hurts and needs to ask the LORD for help.)

A Prayer in Time of Trouble

 ¹I pray to you, LORD!    Please listen.
    ²Don't hide from me
   in my time of trouble.
   Pay attention to my prayer
   and quickly give an answer.
    ³My days disappear like smoke,
   and my bones are burning
   as though in a furnace.
    ⁴I am wasting away like grass,
   and my appetite is gone.
    ⁵My groaning never stops,
   and my bones can be seen
   through my skin.
    ⁶I am like a lonely owl
   in the desert
    ⁷or a restless sparrow
   alone on a roof.
    ⁸My enemies insult me all day,
   and they use my name
   for a curse word.
    ⁹Instead of food,
   I have ashes to eat
   and tears to drink,
    ¹⁰because you are furious
   and have thrown me aside.
    ¹¹My life fades like a shadow
   at the end of day
   and withers like grass.
    ¹²Our LORD, you are King forever
   and will always be famous.
    ¹³You will show pity to Zion
   because the time has come.
    ¹⁴We, your servants,
   love each stone in the city,
   and we are sad to see them
   lying in the dirt.
    ¹⁵Our LORD, the nations
   will honor you,
   and all kings on earth
   will praise your glory.
    ¹⁶You will rebuild
   the city of Zion.
   Your glory will be seen,
    ¹⁷and the prayers of the homeless
   will be answered.
    ¹⁸Future generations must also
   praise the LORD,
   so write this for them:
    ¹⁹"From his holy temple,
   the LORD looked down
   at the earth.
    ²⁰He listened to the groans
   of prisoners,
   and he rescued everyone
   who was doomed to die."
    ²¹All Jerusalem should praise
   you, our LORD,
    ²²when people from every nation
   meet to worship you.
    ²³I should still be strong,
   but you, LORD, have made
   an old person of me.
    ²⁴You will live forever!
   Years mean nothing to you.
   Don't cut my life in half!
    ²⁵In the beginning, LORD,
   you laid the earth's foundation
   and created the heavens.
    ²⁶They will all disappear
   and wear out like clothes.
   You change them,
   as you would a coat,
   but you last forever.
    ²⁷You are always the same.
   Years cannot change you.
    ²⁸Every generation of those
   who serve you
   will live in your presence.

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Proverbs 26:21-22 (Contemporary English Version)

²¹Troublemakers start trouble,
   just as sparks and fuel
   start a fire.
    ²²There is nothing so delicious
   as the taste of gossip!
   It melts in your mouth.

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Verse of the Day

“You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about.” - Ephesians 2:8-9

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism, Louis Dudek wroten, “What is forgiven is usually well remembered.”