The Body Of Our Humiliation – Ministry Lehlevo

Philippians 3:17-21 NRSV-CI
[17] Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. [18] For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. [19] Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. [20] But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. [21] He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

Psalms 40:1-17 NRSV-CI
[1] I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. [2] He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. [3] He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. [4] Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. [5] You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted. [6] Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. [7] Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. [8] I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” [9] I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. [10] I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. [11] Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. [12] For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me. [13] Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. [14] Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt. [15] Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” [16] But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” [17] As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.

Isaiah 7:10-18 NRSV-CI
[10] Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, [11] Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. [12] But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. [13] Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? [14] Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. [15] He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. [16] For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. [17] The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.” [18] On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

Jeremiah 23:1-6 NRSV-CI
[1] Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. [2] Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. [3] Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. [4] I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. [5] The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. [6] In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Numbers 24:13-25 NRSV-CI
[13] ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the Lord says, that is what I will say’? [14] So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what this people will do to your people in days to come.” [15] So he uttered his oracle, saying: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, [16] the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered: [17] I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near— a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites. [18] Edom will become a possession, Seir a possession of its enemies, while Israel does valiantly. [19] One out of Jacob shall rule, and destroy the survivors of Ir.” [20] Then he looked on Amalek, and uttered his oracle, saying: “First among the nations was Amalek, but its end is to perish forever.” [21] Then he looked on the Kenite, and uttered his oracle, saying: “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock; [22] yet Kain is destined for burning. How long shall Asshur take you away captive?” [23] Again he uttered his oracle, saying: “Alas, who shall live when God does this? [24] But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he also shall perish forever.” [25] Then Balaam got up and went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.

Isaiah 53:1-12 NRSV-CI
[1] Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? [2] For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. [3] He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. [4] Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. [8] By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. [9] They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. [11] Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalms 22:1-31 NRSV-CI
[1] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? [2] O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. [3] Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. [4] In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. [5] To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. [6] But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. [7] All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; [8] “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!” [9] Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. [10] On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. [11] Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. [12] Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; [13] they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. [14] I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; [15] my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. [16] For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; [17] I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; [18] they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. [19] But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! [20] Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! [21] Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. [22] I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: [23] You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! [24] For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. [25] From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. [26] The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever! [27] All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. [28] For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. [29] To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. [30] Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, [31] and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Psalms 69:1-36 NRSV-CI
[1] Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. [2] I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. [3] I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. [4] More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; many are those who would destroy me, my enemies who accuse me falsely. What I did not steal must I now restore? [5] O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. [6] Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord God of hosts; do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me, O God of Israel. [7] It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face. [8] I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s children. [9] It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. [10] When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so. [11] When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. [12] I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. [13] But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With your faithful help [14] rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. [15] Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me. [16] Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. [17] Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress—make haste to answer me. [18] Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies. [19] You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonor; my foes are all known to you. [20] Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. [21] They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. [22] Let their table be a trap for them, a snare for their allies. [23] Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. [24] Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. [25] May their camp be a desolation; let no one live in their tents. [26] For they persecute those whom you have struck down, and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more. [27] Add guilt to their guilt; may they have no acquittal from you. [28] Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous. [29] But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me. [30] I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. [31] This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. [32] Let the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. [33] For the Lord hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds. [34] Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. [35] For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall live there and possess it; [36] the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall live in it.

Psalms 16:1-11 NRSV-CI
[1] Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. [2] I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” [3] As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. [4] Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. [5] The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. [6] The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. [7] I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. [8] I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. [9] Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. [10] For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. [11] You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Isaiah 40:1-8 NRSV-CI
[1] Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. [2] Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. [3] A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. [4] Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. [5] Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” [6] A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. [7] The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. [8] The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 61:1-3 NRSV-CI
[1] The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; [2] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; [3] to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

Luke 1:26-38 NRSV-CI
[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, [27] to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” [29] But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. [30] The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. [33] He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [34] Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” [35] The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. [36] And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. [37] For nothing will be impossible with God.” [38] Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Matthew 1:18-25 NRSV-CI
[18] Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. [19] Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. [20] But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” [22] All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: [23] “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” [24] When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, [25] but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Matthew 2:1-23 NRSV-CI
[1] In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, [2] asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” [3] When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; [4] and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. [5] They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: [6] ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ” [7] Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. [8] Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” [9] When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. [10] When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. [11] On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [12] And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. [13] Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” [14] Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, [15] and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” [16] When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: [18] “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” [19] When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, [20] “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” [21] Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. [23] There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

Luke 2:1-20 NRSV-CI
[1] In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. [2] This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. [3] All went to their own towns to be registered. [4] Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. [5] He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. [6] While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. [7] And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. [8] In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9] Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [10] But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: [11] to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. [12] This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, [14] “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” [15] When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” [16] So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. [17] When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; [18] and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. [20] The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:21-52 NRSV-CI
[21] After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [22] When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord [23] (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), [24] and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” [25] Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. [26] It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. [27] Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, [28] Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, [29] “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; [30] for my eyes have seen your salvation, [31] which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, [32] a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” [33] And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. [34] Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed [35] so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” [36] There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, [37] then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. [38] At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. [39] When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. [40] The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. [41] Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. [42] And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. [43] When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. [44] Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. [45] When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. [46] After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. [47] And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. [48] When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” [49] He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” [50] But they did not understand what he said to them. [51] Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. [52] And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

Psalms 38:1-22 NRSV-CI
[1] O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. [2] For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. [3] There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. [4] For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. [5] My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness; [6] I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all day long I go around mourning. [7] For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. [8] I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. [9] O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you. [10] My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. [11] My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction, and my neighbors stand far off. [12] Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all day long. [13] But I am like the deaf, I do not hear; like the mute, who cannot speak. [14] Truly, I am like one who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no retort. [15] But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. [16] For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me, those who boast against me when my foot slips.” [17] For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. [18] I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. [19] Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. [20] Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good. [21] Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me; [22] make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

Psalms 6:1-10 NRSV-CI
[1] O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. [2] Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. [3] My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord—how long? [4] Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. [5] For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise? [6] I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. [7] My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes. [8] Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. [9] The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. [10] All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

Psalms 31:1-24 NRSV-CI
[1] In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. [2] Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. [3] You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, [4] take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge. [5] Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. [6] You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. [7] I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities, [8] and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. [9] Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. [10] For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. [11] I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. [12] I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. [13] For I hear the whispering of many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. [14] But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” [15] My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. [16] Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love. [17] Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go dumbfounded to Sheol. [18] Let the lying lips be stilled that speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contempt. [19] O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of everyone! [20] In the shelter of your presence you hide them from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious tongues. [21] Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege. [22] I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help. [23] Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. [24] Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.

Psalms 32:1-11 NRSV-CI
[1] Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [2] Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. [3] While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. [4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah [5] Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah [6] Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. [7] You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah [8] I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. [9] Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. [10] Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. [11] Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Psalms 102:1-28 NRSV-CI
[1] Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you. [2] Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call. [3] For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. [4] My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread. [5] Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my skin. [6] I am like an owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. [7] I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. [8] All day long my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. [9] For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink, [10] because of your indignation and anger; for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside. [11] My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. [12] But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations. [13] You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come. [14] For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust. [15] The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory. [16] For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory. [17] He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer. [18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord: [19] that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, [20] to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die; [21] so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem, [22] when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord. [23] He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days. [24] “O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.” [25] Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. [26] They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away; [27] but you are the same, and your years have no end. [28] The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.

Acts 2:25-28 NRSV-CI
[25] For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; [26] therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. [27] For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. [28] You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Psalms 35:1-28 NRSV-CI
[1] Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! [2] Take hold of shield and buckler, and rise up to help me! [3] Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” [4] Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life. Let them be turned back and confounded who devise evil against me. [5] Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on. [6] Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. [7] For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life. [8] Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin. [9] Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. [10] All my bones shall say, “O Lord, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who despoil them.” [11] Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me about things I do not know. [12] They repay me evil for good; my soul is forlorn. [13] But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom, [14] as though I grieved for a friend or a brother; I went about as one who laments for a mother, bowed down and in mourning. [15] But at my stumbling they gathered in glee, they gathered together against me; ruffians whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; [16] they impiously mocked more and more, gnashing at me with their teeth. [17] How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions! [18] Then I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you. [19] Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me, or those who hate me without cause wink the eye. [20] For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. [21] They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it.” [22] You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent! O Lord, do not be far from me! [23] Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense, for my cause, my God and my Lord! [24] Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and do not let them rejoice over me. [25] Do not let them say to themselves, “Aha, we have our heart’s desire.” Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.” [26] Let all those who rejoice at my calamity be put to shame and confusion; let those who exalt themselves against me be clothed with shame and dishonor. [27] Let those who desire my vindication shout for joy and be glad, and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant.” [28] Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all day long.

Lamentations 3:1-66 NRSV-CI
[1] I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; [2] he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; [3] against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long. [4] He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; [5] he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; [6] he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago. [7] He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; [8] though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; [9] he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked. [10] He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; [11] he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; [12] he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow. [13] He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver; [14] I have become the laughingstock of all my people, the object of their taunt-songs all day long. [15] He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood. [16] He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; [17] my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; [18] so I say, “Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.” [19] The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! [20] My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. [21] But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: [22] The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; [23] they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” [25] The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. [26] It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. [27] It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, [28] to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it, [29] to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope), [30] to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults. [31] For the Lord will not reject forever. [32] Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; [33] for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone. [34] When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot, [35] when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, [36] when one’s case is subverted —does the Lord not see it? [37] Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it? [38] Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? [39] Why should any who draw breath complain about the punishment of their sins? [40] Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. [41] Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven. [42] We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. [43] You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; [44] you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. [45] You have made us filth and rubbish among the peoples. [46] All our enemies have opened their mouths against us; [47] panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. [48] My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of my people. [49] My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, [50] until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees. [51] My eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the young women in my city. [52] Those who were my enemies without cause have hunted me like a bird; [53] they flung me alive into a pit and hurled stones on me; [54] water closed over my head; I said, “I am lost.” [55] I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; [56] you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear to my cry for help, but give me relief!” [57] You came near when I called on you; you said, “Do not fear!” [58] You have taken up my cause, O Lord, you have redeemed my life. [59] You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause. [60] You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me. [61] You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. [62] The whispers and murmurs of my assailants are against me all day long. [63] Whether they sit or rise—see, I am the object of their taunt-songs. [64] Pay them back for their deeds, O Lord, according to the work of their hands! [65] Give them anguish of heart; your curse be on them! [66] Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the Lord’s heavens.

Lamentations 2:1-22 NRSV-CI
[1] How the Lord in his anger has humiliated daughter Zion! He has thrown down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. [2] The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of daughter Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers. [3] He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn his right hand from them in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around. [4] He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; he has killed all in whom we took pride in the tent of daughter Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire. [5] The Lord has become like an enemy; he has destroyed Israel; He has destroyed all its palaces, laid in ruins its strongholds, and multiplied in daughter Judah mourning and lamentation. [6] He has broken down his booth like a garden, he has destroyed his tabernacle; the Lord has abolished in Zion festival and sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. [7] The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; a clamor was raised in the house of the Lord as on a day of festival. [8] The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of daughter Zion; he stretched the line; he did not withhold his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament; they languish together. [9] Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; guidance is no more, and her prophets obtain no vision from the Lord. [10] The elders of daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the young girls of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. [11] My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out on the ground because of the destruction of my people, because infants and babes faint in the streets of the city. [12] They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom. [13] What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can heal you? [14] Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen oracles for you that are false and misleading. [15] All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at daughter Jerusalem; “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” [16] All your enemies open their mouths against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth, they cry: “We have devoured her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; at last we have seen it!” [17] The Lord has done what he purposed, he has carried out his threat; as he ordained long ago, he has demolished without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you, and exalted the might of your foes. [18] Cry aloud to the Lord! O wall of daughter Zion! Let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! [19] Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street. [20] Look, O Lord, and consider! To whom have you done this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have borne? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? [21] The young and the old are lying on the ground in the streets; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; in the day of your anger you have killed them, slaughtering without mercy. [22] You invited my enemies from all around as if for a day of festival; and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I bore and reared my enemy has destroyed.

Lamentations 5:1-22 NRSV-CI
[1] Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! [2] Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens. [3] We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. [4] We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. [5] With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest. [6] We have made a pact with Egypt and Assyria, to get enough bread. [7] Our ancestors sinned; they are no more, and we bear their iniquities. [8] Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hand. [9] We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. [10] Our skin is black as an oven from the scorching heat of famine. [11] Women are raped in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah. [12] Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders. [13] Young men are compelled to grind, and boys stagger under loads of wood. [14] The old men have left the city gate, the young men their music. [15] The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning. [16] The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! [17] Because of this our hearts are sick, because of these things our eyes have grown dim: [18] because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it. [19] But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. [20] Why have you forgotten us completely? Why have you forsaken us these many days? [21] Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old— [22] unless you have utterly rejected us, and are angry with us beyond measure.

Lamentations 4:1-22 NRSV-CI
[1] How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The sacred stones lie scattered at the head of every street. [2] The precious children of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold— how they are reckoned as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands! [3] Even the jackals offer the breast and nurse their young, but my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. [4] The tongue of the infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives them anything. [5] Those who feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple cling to ash heaps. [6] For the chastisement of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, though no hand was laid on it. [7] Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, their hair like sapphire. [8] Now their visage is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood. [9] Happier were those pierced by the sword than those pierced by hunger, whose life drains away, deprived of the produce of the field. [10] The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of my people. [11] The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. [12] The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. [13] It was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in the midst of her. [14] Blindly they wandered through the streets, so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. [15] “Away! Unclean!” people shouted at them; “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they became fugitives and wanderers; it was said among the nations, “They shall stay here no longer.” [16] The Lord himself has scattered them, he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. [17] Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; we were watching eagerly for a nation that could not save. [18] They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered; for our end had come. [19] Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. [20] The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life, was taken in their pits— the one of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.” [21] Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom, you that live in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. [22] The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is accomplished, he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish, he will uncover your sins.

Lamentations 1:1-22 NRSV-CI
[1] How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. [2] She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. [3] Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. [4] The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter. [5] Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. [6] From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. [7] Jerusalem remembers, in the days of her affliction and wandering, all the precious things that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was no one to help her, the foe looked on mocking over her downfall. [8] Jerusalem sinned grievously, so she has become a mockery; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans, and turns her face away. [9] Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; her downfall was appalling, with none to comfort her. “O Lord, look at my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!” [10] Enemies have stretched out their hands over all her precious things; she has even seen the nations invade her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation. [11] All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. Look, O Lord, and see how worthless I have become. [12] Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. [13] From on high he sent fire; it went deep into my bones; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all day long. [14] My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they weigh on my neck, sapping my strength; the Lord handed me over to those whom I cannot withstand. [15] The Lord has rejected all my warriors in the midst of me; he proclaimed a time against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter Judah. [16] For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my courage; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed. [17] Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should become his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. [18] The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and behold my suffering; my young women and young men have gone into captivity. [19] I called to my lovers but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city while seeking food to revive their strength. [20] See, O Lord, how distressed I am; my stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death. [21] They heard how I was groaning, with no one to comfort me. All my enemies heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. Bring on the day you have announced, and let them be as I am. [22] Let all their evil doing come before you; and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many and my heart is faint.

Proverbs 17:21-24 NRSV-CI
[21] The one who begets a fool gets trouble; the parent of a fool has no joy. [22] A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. [23] The wicked accept a concealed bribe to pervert the ways of justice. [24] The discerning person looks to wisdom, but the eyes of a fool to the ends of the earth.

Proverbs 18:12-17 NRSV-CI
[12] Before destruction one’s heart is haughty, but humility goes before honor. [13] If one gives answer before hearing, it is folly and shame. [14] The human spirit will endure sickness; but a broken spirit—who can bear? [15] An intelligent mind acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. [16] A gift opens doors; it gives access to the great. [17] The one who first states a case seems right, until the other comes and cross-examines.

Proverbs 3:5-18 NRSV-CI
[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. [6] In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. [7] Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. [8] It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body. [9] Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; [10] then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. [11] My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, [12] for the Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. [13] Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, [14] for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. [15] She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. [16] Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. [17] Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. [18] She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.

Proverbs 4:20-27 NRSV-CI
[20] My child, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. [21] Do not let them escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. [22] For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. [23] Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. [24] Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. [25] Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. [26] Keep straight the path of your feet, and all your ways will be sure. [27] Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 12:22-28 NRSV-CI
[22] Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. [23] One who is clever conceals knowledge, but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly. [24] The hand of the diligent will rule, while the lazy will be put to forced labor. [25] Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up. [26] The righteous gives good advice to friends, but the way of the wicked leads astray. [27] The lazy do not roast their game, but the diligent obtain precious wealth. [28] In the path of righteousness there is life, in walking its path there is no death.

Proverbs 14:29-35 NRSV-CI
[29] Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly. [30] A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot. [31] Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him. [32] The wicked are overthrown by their evildoing, but the righteous find a refuge in their integrity. [33] Wisdom is at home in the mind of one who has understanding, but it is not known in the heart of fools. [34] Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. [35] A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

Proverbs 15:13-19 NRSV-CI
[13] A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. [14] The mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. [15] All the days of the poor are hard, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast. [16] Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. [17] Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it. [18] Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention. [19] The way of the lazy is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

Proverbs 16:21-30 NRSV-CI
[21] The wise of heart is called perceptive, and pleasant speech increases persuasiveness. [22] Wisdom is a fountain of life to one who has it, but folly is the punishment of fools. [23] The mind of the wise makes their speech judicious, and adds persuasiveness to their lips. [24] Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. [25] Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death. [26] The appetite of workers works for them; their hunger urges them on. [27] Scoundrels concoct evil, and their speech is like a scorching fire. [28] A perverse person spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. [29] The violent entice their neighbors, and lead them in a way that is not good. [30] One who winks the eyes plans perverse things; one who compresses the lips brings evil to pass.

Job 2:1-13 NRSV-CI
[1] One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. [2] The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” [3] The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” [4] Then Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. [5] But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” [6] The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.” [7] So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. [8] Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. [9] Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” [10] But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. [11] Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. [12] When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. [13] They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job 3:1-26 NRSV-CI
[1] After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. [2] Job said: [3] “Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’ [4] Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it. [5] Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. [6] That night—let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. [7] Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. [8] Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan. [9] Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning— [10] because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, and hide trouble from my eyes. [11] “Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? [12] Why were there knees to receive me, or breasts for me to suck? [13] Now I would be lying down and quiet; I would be asleep; then I would be at rest [14] with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves, [15] or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver. [16] Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light? [17] There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. [18] There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. [19] The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters. [20] “Why is light given to one in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, [21] who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; [22] who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave? [23] Why is light given to one who cannot see the way, whom God has fenced in? [24] For my sighing comes like my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. [25] Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. [26] I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes.”

Isaiah 38:1-22 NRSV-CI
[1] In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” [2] Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord: [3] “Remember now, O Lord, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. [4] Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: [5] “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. [6] I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city. [7] “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: [8] See, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. [9] A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: [10] I said: In the noontide of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years. [11] I said, I shall not see the Lord in the land of the living; I shall look upon mortals no more among the inhabitants of the world. [12] My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end; [13] I cry for help until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end. [14] Like a swallow or a crane I clamor, I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security! [15] But what can I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. All my sleep has fled because of the bitterness of my soul. [16] O Lord, by these things people live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh, restore me to health and make me live! [17] Surely it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but you have held back my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. [18] For Sheol cannot thank you, death cannot praise you; those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. [19] The living, the living, they thank you, as I do this day; fathers make known to children your faithfulness. [20] The Lord will save me, and we will sing to stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord. [21] Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” [22] Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

Luke 22:1-71 NRSV-CI
[1] Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. [2] The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. [3] Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; [4] he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. [5] They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. [6] So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present. [7] Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. [8] So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” [9] They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” [10] “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters [11] and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ [12] He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” [13] So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. [14] When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. [15] He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; [16] for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” [17] Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; [18] for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” [19] Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [20] And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. [21] But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. [22] For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!” [23] Then they began to ask one another, which one of them it could be who would do this. [24] A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. [25] But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. [26] But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. [27] For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. [28] “You are those who have stood by me in my trials; [29] and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, [30] so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [31] “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, [32] but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” [33] And he said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death!” [34] Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me.” [35] He said to them, “When I sent you out without a purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “No, not a thing.” [36] He said to them, “But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. [37] For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted among the lawless’; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled.” [38] They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” He replied, “It is enough.” [39] He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. [40] When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” [41] Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, [42] “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” [ [43] Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. [44] In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.] [45] When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, [46] and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” [47] While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; [48] but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” [49] When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” [50] Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. [51] But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. [52] Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? [53] When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!” [54] Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. [55] When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. [56] Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” [57] But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” [58] A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” [59] Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” [60] But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. [61] The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” [62] And he went out and wept bitterly. [63] Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; [64] they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” [65] They kept heaping many other insults on him. [66] When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. [67] They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe; [68] and if I question you, you will not answer. [69] But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” [70] All of them asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” He said to them, “You say that I am.” [71] Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”

Matthew 26:1-75 NRSV-CI
[1] When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, [2] “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” [3] Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, [4] and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. [5] But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.” [6] Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, [7] a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. [8] But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? [9] For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.” [10] But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. [11] For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. [12] By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. [13] Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” [14] Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests [15] and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. [16] And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. [17] On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” [18] He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ” [19] So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. [20] When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; [21] and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” [22] And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” [23] He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. [24] The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” [25] Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.” [26] While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” [27] Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; [28] for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. [29] I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” [30] When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. [31] Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ [32] But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” [33] Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” [34] Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” [35] Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples. [36] Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” [37] He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. [38] Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” [39] And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” [40] Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? [41] Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [42] Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” [43] Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. [44] So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. [45] Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. [46] Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” [47] While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. [48] Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” [49] At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. [50] Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. [51] Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. [52] Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. [53] Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? [54] But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?” [55] At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. [56] But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. [57] Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered. [58] But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest; and going inside, he sat with the guards in order to see how this would end. [59] Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, [60] but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward [61] and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ” [62] The high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” [63] But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” [64] Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” [65] Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. [66] What is your verdict?” They answered, “He deserves death.” [67] Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him, [68] saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who is it that struck you?” [69] Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” [70] But he denied it before all of them, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” [71] When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” [72] Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” [73] After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” [74] Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed. [75] Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Matthew 27:1-66 NRSV-CI
[1] When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. [2] They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor. [3] When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. [4] He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” [5] Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. [6] But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” [7] After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. [8] For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. [9] Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, [10] and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” [11] Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” [12] But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. [13] Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” [14] But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. [15] Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. [16] At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. [17] So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” [18] For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. [19] While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” [20] Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. [21] The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” [22] Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” [23] Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” [24] So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” [25] Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” [26] So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. [27] Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. [28] They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, [29] and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” [30] They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. [31] After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. [32] As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. [33] And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), [34] they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. [35] And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots; [36] then they sat down there and kept watch over him. [37] Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” [38] Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. [39] Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads [40] and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” [41] In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, [42] “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. [43] He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’ ” [44] The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way. [45] From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. [46] And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [47] When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” [48] At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. [49] But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” [50] Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. [51] At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. [52] The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. [53] After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. [54] Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” [55] Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. [56] Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. [57] When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. [58] He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. [59] So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth [60] and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. [61] Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. [62] The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate [63] and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ [64] Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” [65] Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” [66] So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Luke 23:1-16, 18-56 NRSV-CI
[1] Then the assembly rose as a body and brought Jesus before Pilate. [2] They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” [3] Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” [4] Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation against this man.” [5] But they were insistent and said, “He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to this place.” [6] When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. [7] And when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. [8] When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. [9] He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. [10] The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. [11] Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate. [12] That same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies. [13] Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, [14] and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. [15] Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. [16] I will therefore have him flogged and release him.”
[18] Then they all shouted out together, “Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!” [19] (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) [20] Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; [21] but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” [22] A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” [23] But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. [24] So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. [25] He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished. [26] As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. [27] A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. [28] But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. [29] For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ [30] Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ [31] For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” [32] Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. [33] When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [ [34] Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. [35] And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” [36] The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, [37] and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” [38] There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” [39] One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? [41] And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” [44] It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, [45] while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. [46] Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. [47] When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” [48] And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. [49] But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. [50] Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, [51] had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. [52] This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. [53] Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. [54] It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. [55] The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. [56] Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

John 17:1-26 NRSV-CI
[1] After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. [5] So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. [6] “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; [8] for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. [11] And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. [12] While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. [13] But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. [15] I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. [16] They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. [20] “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. [24] Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. [25] “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. [26] I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

John 18:1-40 NRSV-CI
[1] After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. [2] Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. [3] So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. [4] Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” [5] They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. [6] When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. [7] Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” [8] Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” [9] This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” [10] Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. [11] Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” [12] So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. [13] First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. [14] Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people. [15] Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, [16] but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. [17] The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” [18] Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself. [19] Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. [20] Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. [21] Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” [22] When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” [23] Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” [24] Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. [25] Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” [26] One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” [27] Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed. [28] Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. [29] So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” [30] They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” [31] Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” [32] (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) [33] Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” [34] Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” [35] Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” [36] Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” [37] Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” [38] Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. [39] But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” [40] They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

John 19:1-42 NRSV-CI
[1] Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. [2] And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. [3] They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. [4] Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” [5] So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” [6] When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” [7] The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” [8] Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. [9] He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. [10] Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” [11] Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” [12] From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.” [13] When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. [14] Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” [15] They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” [16] Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; [17] and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. [18] There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. [19] Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” [20] Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. [21] Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” [22] Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” [23] When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. [24] So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” [25] And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. [26] When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” [27] Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. [28] After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” [29] A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. [30] When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [31] Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. [32] Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. [33] But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. [34] Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. [35] (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) [36] These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” [37] And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” [38] After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. [39] Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. [40] They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. [41] Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. [42] And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Psalms 3:1-8 NRSV-CI
[1] O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; [2] many are saying to me, “There is no help for you in God.” Selah [3] But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. [4] I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah [5] I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. [6] I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. [7] Rise up, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. [8] Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people! Selah