Lamentations 2:20-3:66 (Contemporary English Version)
Jerusalem Speaks:
20Think about it, LORD! Have you ever been this cruelto 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] 12God 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] 21Then 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] 23The 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] 30we 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] 66Get angry and go after them
until not a trace is left
under the heavens.
Footnotes:
- Lamentations 3:11 shreds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 11.
- Lamentations 3:20 I am depressed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- Lamentations 3:22 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 22.
- Lamentations 3:29 lesson: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 29.
- Lamentations 3:65 make them suffer: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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:
- Hebrews 1:3 right side: The place of honor and power.
- 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.
- Hebrews 1:8 Your: Some manuscripts have "His."
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.
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.
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
just as sparks and fuel
start a fire.
22There is nothing so delicious
as the taste of gossip!
It melts in your mouth.
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.
Thought for the Day
A Joke for Today
After the revival had concluded, the three pastors were discussing the results with one another.
The Methodist minister said, "The revival worked out great for us! We gained 4 new families."
The Baptist preacher said, "We did better than that! We gained 6 new families."
The Presbyterian pastor said, "Well, we did even better than that! We got rid of our 10 biggest trouble makers!
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