Bible Reading Plan – Day 102

₁I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.

₂I will sing with joy because of you.

I will sing praise to you, Almighty God.

₃My enemies turn back when you appear;

they fall down and die.

₄You are fair and honest in your judgements,

and you have judged in my favour.

₅You have condemned the heathen

and destroyed the wicked;

they will be remembered no more.

₆Our enemies are finished for ever;

you have destroyed their cities,

and they are completely forgotten.

₇But the LORD is king for ever;

he has set up his throne for judgement.

₈He rules the world with righteousness;

he judges the nations with justice.

₉The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,

a place of safety in times of trouble.

₁₀Those who know you, LORD, will trust you;

you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.

₁₁Sing praise to the LORD, who rules in Zion!

Tell every nation what he has done!

₁₂God remembers those who suffer;

he does not forget their cry,

and he punishes those who wrong them.

₁₃Be merciful to me, O LORD!

See the sufferings my enemies cause me!

Rescue me from death, O LORD,

₁₄that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem

and tell them all the things for which I praise you.

I will rejoice because you saved me.

₁₅The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in;

they have been caught in their own trap.

₁₆The LORD has revealed himself by his righteous judgements,

and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

₁₇Death is the destiny of all the wicked,

of all those who reject God.

₁₈The needy will not always be neglected;

the hope of the poor will not be crushed for ever.

₁₉Come, LORD! Do not let human beings defy you!

Bring the heathen before you

and pronounce judgement on them.

₂₀Make them afraid, O LORD;

make them know that they are only mortal beings.

₁Why are you so far away, O LORD?

Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?

₂The wicked are proud and persecute the poor;

catch them in the traps they have made.

₃The wicked are proud of their evil desires;

the greedy curse and reject the LORD.

₄The wicked do not care about the LORD;

in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.

₅The wicked succeed in everything.

They cannot understand God's judgements;

they sneer at their enemies.

₆They say to themselves, “I will never fail;

I will never be in trouble.”

₇Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats;

they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

₈They hide themselves in the villages,

waiting to murder innocent people.

They spy on their helpless victims;

₉they wait in their hiding places like lions.

They lie in wait for the poor;

they catch them in their traps and drag them away.

₁₀The helpless victims lie crushed;

brute strength has defeated them.

₁₁The wicked say to themselves, “God doesn't care!

He has closed his eyes and will never see me!”

₁₂O LORD, punish those wicked people!

Remember those who are suffering!

₁₃How can the wicked despise God

and say to themselves, “He will not punish me”?

₁₄But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering

and are always ready to help.

The helpless commit themselves to you;

you have always helped the needy.

₁₅Break the power of wicked and evil people;

punish them for the wrong they have done

until they do it no more.

₁₆The LORD is king for ever and ever.

Those who worship other gods

will vanish from his land.

₁₇You will listen, O LORD, to the prayers of the lowly;

you will give them courage.

₁₈You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;

you will judge in their favour,

so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

₁I trust in the LORD for safety.

How foolish of you to say to me,

“Fly away like a bird to the mountains,

₂because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows

to shoot from the shadows at good people.

₃There is nothing a good person can do

when everything falls apart.”

₄The LORD is in his holy temple;

he has his throne in heaven.

He watches people everywhere

and knows what they are doing.

₅He examines the good and the wicked alike;

the lawless he hates with all his heart.

₆He sends down flaming coals and burning sulphur on the wicked;

he punishes them with scorching winds.

₇The LORD is righteous and loves good deeds;

those who do them will live in his presence.

₁Help us, LORD!

There is not a good person left;

honest people can no longer be found.

₂All of them lie to one another;

they deceive each other with flattery.

₃Silence those flattering tongues, O LORD!

Close those boastful mouths that say,

₄“With our words we get what we want.

We will say what we wish,

and no one can stop us.”

₅“But now I will come,” says the LORD,

“because the needy are oppressed

and the persecuted groan in pain.

I will give them the security they long for.”

₆The promises of the LORD can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver

refined seven times in the furnace.

_7-8The wicked are everywhere,

and everyone praises what is evil.

Keep us always safe, O LORD,

and preserve us from such people.

₁How much longer will you forget me, LORD? For ever?

How much longer will you hide yourself from me?

₂How long must I endure trouble?

How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night?

How long will my enemies triumph over me?

₃Look at me, O LORD my God, and answer me.

Restore my strength; don't let me die.

₄Don't let my enemies say, “We have defeated him.”

Don't let them gloat over my downfall.

₅I rely on your constant love;

I will be glad, because you will rescue me.

₆I will sing to you, O LORD,

because you have been good to me.

₁Fools say to themselves,

“There is no God.”

They are all corrupt,

and they have done terrible things;

there is no one who does what is right.

₂The LORD looks down from heaven at human beings

to see if there are any who are wise,

any who worship him.

₃But they have all gone wrong;

they are all equally bad.

Not one of them does what is right,

not a single one.

₄“Don't they know?” asks the LORD.

“Are all these evildoers ignorant?

They live by robbing my people,

and they never pray to me.”

₅But then they will be terrified,

for God is with those who obey him.

₆Evildoers frustrate the plans of the humble,

but the LORD is their protection.

₇How I pray that victory

will come to Israel from Zion.

How happy the people of Israel will be

when the LORD makes them prosperous again!

₁LORD, who may enter your Temple?

Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill?

₂Those who obey God in everything

and always do what is right,

whose words are true and sincere,

₃and who do not slander others.

They do no wrong to their friends

nor spread rumours about their neighbours.

₄They despise those whom God rejects,

but honour those who obey the LORD.

They always do what they promise,

no matter how much it may cost.

₅They make loans without charging interest

and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will always be secure.

₁Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety.

₂I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;

all the good things I have come from you.”

₃How excellent are the LORD's faithful people!

My greatest pleasure is to be with them.

₄Those who rush to other gods

bring many troubles on themselves.

I will not take part in their sacrifices;

I will not worship their gods.

₅You, LORD, are all I have,

and you give me all I need;

my future is in your hands.

₆How wonderful are your gifts to me;

how good they are!

₇I praise the LORD, because he guides me,

and in the night my conscience warns me.

₈I am always aware of the LORD's presence;

he is near, and nothing can shake me.

₉And so I am thankful and glad,

and I feel completely secure,

₁₀because you protect me from the power of death.

I have served you faithfully,

and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead.

₁₁You will show me the path that leads to life;

your presence fills me with joy

and brings me pleasure for ever.

₁Listen, O LORD, to my plea for justice;

pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to my honest prayer.

₂You will judge in my favour,

because you know what is right.

₃You know my heart.

You have come to me at night;

you have examined me completely

and found no evil desire in me.

₄I speak no evil as others do;

I have obeyed your command

and have not followed paths of violence.

₅I have always walked in your way

and have never strayed from it.

₆I pray to you, O God, because you answer me;

so turn to me and listen to my words.

₇Reveal your wonderful love and save me;

at your side I am safe from my enemies.

₈Protect me as you would your very eyes;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

₉from the attacks of the wicked.

Deadly enemies surround me;

₁₀they have no pity and speak proudly.

₁₁They are round me now, wherever I turn,

watching for a chance to pull me down.

₁₂They are like lions, waiting for me,

wanting to tear me to pieces.

₁₃Come, LORD! Oppose my enemies and defeat them!

Save me from the wicked by your sword;

₁₄save me from those who in this life have all they want.

Punish them with the sufferings you have stored up for them;

may there be enough for their children

and some left over for their children's children!

₁₅But I will see you, because I have done no wrong;

and when I awake, your presence will fill me with joy.